Chargers 90-in-90: P Ty Long

Ty Long was born and raised in Roswell, Georgia where he prepped for Roswell High School as a stud kicker and punter.

In his senior season in 2010, Long was named to the Kohl’s Professional Kicking Camp All-American Team after connecting on 14-of-21 field goals with a long of 52. As a punter, Long averaged a very healthy 48 yards across 38 punts. For his efforts, he was named to the All-Region 6-AAAAA First Team by the Georgia Football Daily and the All-North Fulton Team by the ATL Journal-Constitution.

After committing to play at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Long wasted no time in earning the team’s starting kicker job as a true freshman. In 2011, Long converted 16-of-19 field goals. As a sophomore, he finished with a 82.4 conversion percentage, making 14-of-17 kicks and a long of 54 yards against Ohio State which was a school record long. He was named to the Honorable Mention All-Conference USA team following the campaign.

Over his next two seasons, Long converted on 29 of his 41 field goal attempts before going undrafted in 2015. Initially, he signed with Washington following the draft and played in a trio of preseason contest. but was among the final cuts made on August 30. After the season, Long latched on to the Steelers for most of the 2016 offseason but was waived once more on May 5 of that year.

A year later, Long landed a contract with the CFL’s BC Lions where he earned both the starting kicker and punter jobs prior to the 2017 season. His first year in Canada, Long hit home on 39-of-44 field goals with a long of 50 and averaged 47.9 yards on 116 punts while being named the West Division’s Most Outstanding Special Teams Player of the Year. In 2018, Long converted on 43 of his 49 attempts with a long of 52 and averaged a whopping 48.8 yards per punt on 120 kicks.

On January 4, after being granted a release from the CFL, Long signed with the Chargers for his third stint with a NFL team. After an injury to Michael Badgley, Long took over kicking duties for the first half of the season. He converted seven of nine field goals, all nine extra points, and 47.0 yards per punt in 2019.

Basic Info

Height: 6’2
Weight: 2
College: UAB
Experience: 1 (NFL), 2 (CFL)
Years with team: 1

Contract Status

“Ty Long signed a 2 year, $1,080,000 contract with the Los Angeles Chargers, including an average annual salary of $540,000. In 2020, Long will earn a base salary of $675,000, while carrying a cap hit of $695,000 and a dead cap value of $20,000.” - Spotrac.com

The Good

He provides the team with the versatility to both kick and punt. When Michael Badgley went down with an injury prior to the 2019 season, Long was able to step in, albeit with some notable bumps early on, but it still allowed the Chargers to keep a roster spot from being taken by another kicker.

The Bad

Long missed a pair of field goals against the Lions last year that was the difference in a close 13-10 loss at Detroit. That’s about it as far as negatives to his game in 2019.

Odds of making the roster/What to expect in 2020?

Long will no doubt be the team’s punter in 2020 since the team decided against brining in any competition for either of the special teams positions.