Steve Longa's father -- a former soccer star in his native Cameroon -- learned everything he could about football in order to support his son's teenage dream.
Three days after Longa's father was killed on the side of a road in Pennsylvania, the former Rutgers star linebacker received the game ball from his teammates in an emotional Detroit Lions locker room. The death was officially ruled an accident.
Longa had the best performance of his two-year NFL career when he contributed four tackles on 29 snaps to a 14-7 win against the Minnesota Vikings.