Steve Longa

Steven Longa (born September 29, 1994) is a Cameroonian-American former professional football linebacker who played for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played high school football at Saddle Brook High School in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, where he earned All-State honors his senior year. He played college football at Rutgers, where he was a three-year letterman. In 2013, Longa was named a Freshman All-American after leading NCAA Division I in tackles by a freshman with 123. He was named third-team All-Big Ten Conference in 2015. He started 37 games during his college career and recorded 342 tackles, which was the third most in school history. Longa forwent his final year of college eligibility to enter the 2016 NFL draft. After going undrafted, he signed with the Seattle Seahawks. He was released by the Seahawks before the start of the 2016 season and was then signed by the Lions, with whom he played for until 2019. Longa was primarily a special teams player during his NFL career; 493 of his 561 careers snaps were on special teams.

Early life Steven Longa was born on September 29, 1994 in Yaoundé, Cameroon. His family then settled in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, where he attended Saddle Brook High School and was recruited to play American football, a sport he had never played before.

Longa played linebacker and running back at Saddle Brook High School. earning first-team honors in the Meadowlands B division of the North Jersey Interscholastic Conference (NJIC). Longa recorded over 70 tackles and over 1,000 rushing yards his senior season, All-State, All-North Jersey, and All-Bergen County honors. He accepted an invitation to play in the 2011 Chesapeake Bowl, a senior-only all-star game featuring players from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia and West Virginia. He also participated in track at Saddle Brook High.

In the class of 2012, Longa was rated a four-star athlete recruit, the No. 31 athlete in the country and the No. 9 overall prospect in New Jersey by ESPN.com: a three-star outside linebacker recruit, the No. 33 outside linebacker in the country and the No. 8 overall prospect in New Jersey by Rivals.com: a three-star outside linebacker recruit, the No. 42 outside linebacker in the country and the No. 11 overall prospect in New Jersey by 247Sports.com: and a two-star recruit and the No. 110 outside linebacker in the country by Scout.com. He was also rated both a three-star recruit, the No. 59 outside linebacker in the country and the No. 17 overall prospect in New Jersey on 247Sports.com's composite rating, which takes into account the ratings of all the other major recruiting services in the country.

He committed to play college football for Rutgers in May 2011. He also had offers from Boston College, Connecticut, FIU, Maryland, Monmouth, Northwestern, Syracuse, Temple, Villanova, Western Michigan and Youngstown State. Longa played in 13 games, all starts, at middle linebacker in 2013. Longa had three sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and four pass breakups as well. He was named a first-team Freshman All-American by Sporting News, a second-team Freshman All-American by Athlon Sports and a second-team Freshman All-American by Phil Steele. He was also named second-team All-American Athletic Conference by Phil Steele. Longa shared team defensive MVP honors with lineman Marcus Thompson.

He moved to weakside linebacker during spring practice in 2014. In June 2014, he was named second-team Preseason All-Big Ten Conference by Athlon Sports and first-team Preseason All-Big Ten by Phil Steele. Longa appeared in 13 games, all starts, at weakside linebacker in 2014. He again led the team in tackles with 102. He played in 11 games, all starts, in 2015 at weakside linebacker. He became the second player in school history to have three seasons with at least 100 tackles.

Professional career Pre-draft Longa was rated the 17th best inside linebacker in the 2016 draft by NFLDraftScout.com.

Seattle Seahawks Longa signed with the Seattle Seahawks in May 2016 after going undrafted in the 2016 draft. He was released on September 3, 2016.

Detroit Lions On September 5, 2016, Longa was signed to the practice squad of the Detroit Lions. He was promoted to the active roster on October 8 and made his NFL debut on October 9 against the Philadelphia Eagles, appearing in 15 snaps on special teams. He was released on October 11 and re-signed to the team's practice squad on October 13.

Longa signed a reserve/future contract with the Lions on January 9, 2017. He appeared in a career-high 15 games in 2017, recording 12 solo tackles and one assisted tackle while appearing in 14 snaps on defense and 302 snaps on special teams.

On August 20, 2018, Longa was placed on injured reserve after suffering a torn ACL. He missed the entire season due to the injury.

On August 31, 2019, he was waived by the Lions and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. Longa was promoted to the active roster on October 26. He appeared in 10 games during the 2019 season, totaling seven solo tackles and eight assisted tackles while playing 54 snaps on defense and 176 snaps on special teams.

Overall, he played in 26 games during his NFL career, recording 19 solo tackles and nine assisted tackles while appearing in 68 snaps on defense and 493 snaps on special teams. Steve became an American citizen in 2019.