Former Michigan offensive lineman Jake Long had a storied career for the Wolverines.
He joined Jon Jansen on the “In the Trenches” podcast Monday and shared a lot of memories about his time in Ann Abor.
Although Long later became the first overall draft pick in 2008, he didn’t play in his freshman season.
“I was nowhere near ready to play,” Long said on the podcast. I came in and I was about 295, but there was no way I was ready to play. Redshirting for me was the best thing that’s ever happened to me because I gained a bunch of weight, gained a bunch strength. Really learned how to play at the collegiate level and learned from some great older guys in front of me.”
Long developed significantly during his freshman season. After that season however, he experienced a life changing experience.
During the summer after his freshman year, he and a group of teammates were involved in a house fire.
“It was actually the night the Pistons won the championship,” he said. “We had a six a.m. run the next day so we all went to bed at a reasonable hour. Out of nowhere, I get woken up by the smoke alarm. My room was right at the top of the stairs and it was filled with smoke … The first thing I did was open up my bedroom door to go down the stairs and that was just a huge mistake.”
Instead of trying to go down the stairs and into the smoke, Long went out his window and jumped from the second floor. He belly flopped onto the car below the window in the driveway.
Long and the rest of his teammates all got out of the fire alright.
“I was the worst,” Long said. “I had really bad smoke inhalation. I couldn’t breathe really well and I was throwing up soot, so they took me to the hospital. I was in in the hospital for over a week and I was in the ICU and they had tubes running into my lungs sucking up soot. It was pretty nasty.”
Despite his time in the hospital, Long said he was very thankful that everyone got out of the hospital without any significant injuries.
In his first season seeing action for the Wolverines, Michigan won the Big Ten championship in 2004.
“I think we had great senior leadership,” Long said. “That year we had Jason Avant and guys that just knew how to win and knew the Michigan way and knew what we had to do to win a championship. Everyone bought in and it was a special group.”
In his final season at Michigan in 2007, the Wolverines started off the season dropping games against Appalachian State and Oregon. However, Michigan would rebound the rest of the season.
“We all came back and had two losses right off the bat, two heartbreaking losses,” Long said. “We had such a special group of seniors and Coach Carr wouldn’t let us quit. I remember after that Oregon game, we had practice the next day and we had Notre Dame coming in. We were like, ‘Alright, we’re going to turn it around right here.’ And we rattled off eight straight. We were close to winning the Big Ten.”
Long said that Carr had a huge impact on his life.
“He taught us how to be men,” Long added. “He taught us how to win in football, but also in the classroom and life. It was never about the individual. It was always about being a part of something greater than yourself. Winning for Michigan and your teammates. Being humble. That equates to everything in life.”
Long grew up as a Michigan fan and loved everything the program stood for.
Both Jansen and Long wore the No. 77 at Michigan and Long said that number meant everything to him.
“Growing up, watching [Jansen] and watching the guys that came before us, there was just something about that number, the people that wore it and the tradition behind that number and the success that guys had,” Long said. “Growing up, I wore it all the way through middle school and high school. I had it in my head, I wanted to make sure that I played up to that number.”
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @BSB_Wolverine, @JB_ Wolverine, @AustinFox42, @Balas_Wolverine, @DrewCHallett and @Qb9Adam.
• Like us on Facebook