ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- He waited for those phone calls. As a child in Cameroon, Steve Longa didn’t know how often the phone would ring. Didn’t know how long the man would be able to talk. But those calls, they were everything because of who was on the other end.
Etienne Longa was a professional athlete, much like his son would later become as a linebacker with the Detroit Lions. He played professional soccer for over a decade in Cameroon with Dynamo Douala and then worked in business, tied in part to the Cameroon government.