Kyle Long on Bears’ O-line and brother Chris, who won Man of the Year

SHARE Kyle Long on Bears’ O-line and brother Chris, who won Man of the Year
eagles_bears_football_80985694_e1551198268396.jpg

Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Chris Long (56) and his brother, Chicago Bears offensive guard Kyle Long (75), greet each other after the Bears’ wild-card loss to the Eagles. | Nam Y. Huh/AP photo

ATLANTA — Guard Kyle Long still is processing the Bears’ playoff loss to the Eagles.

‘‘You’re never really over it,’’ Long said Saturday. ‘‘But the great thing about football, if you’re lucky enough, is that you get to play again. You get to put your helmet back on and do it again.’’

He’ll do so with familiar faces. Right tackle Bobby Massie’s contract extension, which he signed last week, means all five of the Bears’ starting offensive linemen are under contract for 2019.

Long said he can’t wait to play alongside them next season.

‘‘That’s incredible,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s a credit to our staff. It’s a credit to the leaders in our room.’’

Massie doesn’t get enough respect around the NFL, Long said.

‘‘He’s as consistent as they come,’’ he said. ‘‘He’s as deserving as anybody.’’

Long attended the NFL Honors at the Fox Theatre to cheer on his brother Chris, who was named the Walter Payton Man of the Year for his work building wells in eastern Africa.

Chris Long, a defensive end for the Eagles, beat out Bears tight end Trey Burton and former Bears kicker Robbie Gould, among others.

‘‘It’s amazing the things these guys do,’’ Kyle Long said. ‘‘My pick is Chris Long, all the time. We’ve got a good one in Chicago, too, in Trey. . . . I think it’s a credit to not only how they were brought up but the kind of stuff that’s inside their chest, the kind of men they are.’’

RELATED

Bears’ Matt Nagy named AP Coach of the Year

Tony Gonzalez, Ed Reed highlight 8-man Pro Football Hall of Fame class

Rodgers wins for Week 1 rally

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers won the NFL’s Moment of the Year award for leading the Packers back from a 20-0 deficit to beat the Bears in Week 1. He was carted off the field in the second quarter but returned after halftime.

Former Packers great Brett Favre presented the award.

‘‘As [Favre] knows, there’s nothing like beating the Bears,’’ Rodgers said.

Fangio named top assistant

Former Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who became the Broncos’ coach last month, was named the Associated Press’ Assistant Coach of the Year for his work with the NFL’s best defense.

‘‘A heck of a coach that does things the right way,’’ said Bears coach Matt Nagy, who was named AP Coach of the Year.

This and that

Burton said his Man of the Year nomination was special because he shares a team with the trophy’s namesake.

‘‘That’s where Walter [Payton] played, and to see the impact he made on the community is unique,’’ he said.

• Former Bears linebackers Dick Butkus, Mike Singletary and Brian Urlacher are expected to be among the legends in the two-minute commercial Sunday celebrating the NFL’s 100th anniversary. It will air before the halftime show of the Super Bowl.

• Former Bears receiver Alshon Jeffery, whose dropped pass-turned-Saints interception eliminated the Eagles from the playoffs, said attending Super Bowl weekend makes him want to play in the game again.

‘‘It’s motivation to be in Miami next year,’’ he said.

The Latest
Hundreds gathered for a memorial service for Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough, a mysterious QR code mural enticed Taylor Swift fans on the Near North Side, and a weekend mass shooting in Back of the Yards left 9-year-old Ariana Molina dead and 10 other people wounded, including her mother and other children.
MV Realty targeted people who had equity in their homes but needed cash — locking them into decades-long contracts carrying hidden fees, the Illinois attorney general says in a newly filed lawsuit. The company has 34,000 agreements with homeowners, including more than 750 in Illinois.
The artist at Goodkind Tattoo in Lake View incorporates hidden messages and inside jokes to help memorialize people’s furry friends.
Chicago artist Jason Messinger created the murals in 2018 during a Blue Line station renovation and says his aim was for “people to look at this for 30 seconds and transport them on a mini-vacation of the mind. Each mural is an abstract idea of a vacation destination.”
The bodies of Richard Crane, 62, and an unidentified woman were found shot at the D-Lux Budget Inn in southwest suburban Lemont.