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On Sunday afternoon at Soldier Field, during the final Wild Card game of the weekend, the Chicago Bears will play host to the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
It will also see two brothers, a Hall of Fame dad, and their mom, in a situation that few families in the world have ever had to deal with when two brothers will literally have to go head-to-head.
Eagles defensive end Chris Long and his younger brother, Bears guard Kyle Long, will both be fighting for a chance to advance to the NFC Divisional Round.
So how will they, and perhaps more importantly, their family deal with this very unique set of circumstances?
Well…
“They tell us to tune out the outside, you know, media, stuff like that, but you can’t tune out your family,” Kyle Long told NFL Network’s Stacey Dales. “Unfortunately, I’m playing against my family this week. You’ve got to look at it as just another dude out there. He kind of looks like me, possibly, but on Sunday, we’re not related, so I’ve got to focus on my job.”
As for how dad Howie, who will be celebrating his 59th birthday on Sunday, and mom Diane will handle the brothers facing each other in the playoffs?
Kyle told the Chicago Sun-Times, “Man, it’s probably going to be pretty crazy for them. It’s gonna be a fun birthday for them. I don’t think my mom will be able to watch. She’ll be there, but she’ll probably have her eyes covered the whole time. They love their kids. They’re going to be happy to be here. I think everybody’s just happy.”
So will the brothers talk this week? When asked what kind of communication Kyle would have with Chris in the leadup to the game he replied, “No good communication.”
Brothers are the best.
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