All good things eventually come to an end. And even though we know this reality of life, it doesn't make it any easier to deal with.
When it comes to football, the end of a player's career -- especially a player who's taken every snap with one team -- is an emotional time. We've reached that moment with Kyle Long.
Long, who was drafted by the Bears in the first round of the 2013 NFL Draft, has played every snap of his seven-year career in Chicago. He's become one of the most recognizable and beloved players on the team.
While Long didn't use the word 'retirement' on Sunday, he tweeted that he's stepping away from the game. That, combined with tweets from earlier in the week that said he'd never don another team's uniform, results in an obvious conclusion: Long is hanging up his cleats.
Here's how some Bears fans reacted.
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