NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Former Washington State and Tennessee Titans defensive tackle Rien Long has improved to stable condition after he crashed his sports car into a rock wall while driving onto an interstate.
Nashville Police said the 26-year-old Long was driving too fast down an on-ramp to Interstate 40 near downtown just before midnight Monday.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center officials said Long’s condition steadily improved in the first 24 hours he was hospitalized.
Long’s 2005 Ford Mustang started sliding at the bottom of the ramp, went up the embankment and hit a rock wall before rolling onto its roof. A passenger, 28-year-old Wesley Stephens, was treated for non-critical injuries.
Long, drafted by the Titans out of WSU in 2003, started five of 39 games through his first three seasons with 9 1/2 career sacks and 99 career tackles. But he missed the 2006 season with a torn Achilles’ tendon, then was placed on injured reserve for 2007 with a knee injury before being waived.
Long, a graduate of Anacortes High School, won the Outland Trophy in 2002 as the top lineman in college football.
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