January 03, 2019
Brotherly love will be set aside on Sunday when the Philadelphia Eagles face the Chicago Bears in an NFC Wildcard matchup at Soldier Field.
Eagles defensive end Chris Long, 33, and Bears guard Kyle Long, 30, will face each other for the first time in the playoffs.
"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."
Over both players' careers, Chris Long is 2-0 against Kyle Long and the Bears.
The older brother has yet to comment on the matchup, but did have an encouraging messages for Kyle before the Bears beat the Vikings last Sunday.
"If you beat Minnesota, you get a chance to block Fletcher Cox," Chris told his brother.
There's a decent chance certain schemes on offense and defense will bring the two of them into a contest of their own at some point during the game.
Making matters more interesting is that Sunday will be their Hall of Fame father's 59th birthday. Kyle expects an anxious afternoon for their parents.
"It's gonna be a fun birthday for them," Kyle Long said. "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."
