CHICAGO — Former Chicago Bears offensive lineman Kyle Long plans to unretire and play in the NFL in 2021, ESPN confirmed Tuesday.
Long announced in January 2020 that he would retire after seven NFL seasons, all in Chicago.
Drafted at No. 20 by the Bears in 2013, Long missed just one game over his first three seasons but appeared in just 30 regular-season contests over his last four years.
Long, who is 32, suffered a gruesome ankle injury in 2016 that cost him the final eight games that year and the first two games of the 2017 season. Long ended up missing six games in 2017 with a variety of ailments, undergoing neck, shoulder and elbow surgeries in the offseason.
He returned in time to start the Bears’ first seven games in 2018 before Chicago once again shut him down before his return in Week 17 from a foot injury.
Long opened the 2019 regular season in good shape but suffered a hip injury during practice leading up to the game against the Minnesota Vikings on Sept. 29. He was inactive for that game but returned to the starting lineup against the Oakland Raiders in London on Oct. 6.
After the loss to the Raiders — a game in which Long played all 56 possible snaps on offense — the Bears decided they would be better off on offense without Long and promptly placed the veteran on injured reserve yet again.
Long spent the 2020 season doing studio television work for CBS.
The Green Light Pod first reported Long’s decision.