What's next at Go Long? A thank you & a preview of what you can expect...
There's no offseason in pro football.
First off, THANK YOU.
For your support. For making Go Long a part of your life.
For your trust in everything ahead.
When I decided to start my own business, part of me wasn’t quite sure what to expect. The media landscape is obviously changing 100 miles an hour so this never felt like an all-out “risk.” Hell, you better be willing to go for it if you’re working in sports media today. And growing up in an entrepreneurial family, thinking back, I definitely believe this desire to create something like Go Long has been stirring in me from college at Syracuse to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to the Buffalo News to B/R all along.
The time was right to go for it.
We’re 2 ½ months into this and I just wanted to let you all know that I could not be more damn excited. You all will absolutely be the ones who make this go — not any corporate overlords, not some network executive — and, already, you’ve shown just how much you want to read. To our subscribers, your support means the world. I do not take your commitment lightly. To our readers on the free email list, thank you for checking out Go Long as well. I hope you consider upgrading and — as always — never hesitate to let me know what you like and what you don’t like.
Any and all thoughts are always welcomed at golongtd@gmail.com and my DMs are open on Twitter @TyDunne.
I’m in this for the long haul and believe you will all love what’s brewing this offseason.
The plan is to keep the pedal to the metal.
Here’s a look at what you can continue to expect when you subscribe to Go Long:
The Friday Feature. This will continue to be the backbone of Go Long, a longform piece each Friday. The goal here — always — is give you a story that’s different, that you cannot read anywhere else. Something that’s always worth your time and cuts against the tiktokifying of football coverage. Covid-permitting, I’ll hit the highway for a Go Long road trip soon to hunt down more of these stories in-person. Very confident that 10-plus years of experience covering this league will lead to stories worth your time.
Columns. Analysis. Q&As. Rather than lock in specific items for specific days, my plan is to be more flexible week to week throughout the offseason because this is about to be as wild of an offseason as we’ve ever seen. Who knows what will happen? I want Go Long to stay in a position to react, quickly, with sharp perspective.
Zoom Happy Hours. These will keep on rolling, too. We’ll stick with Fridays at 6 p.m. if that works for everyone. Be on the lookout for log-in information in separate posts/emails whenever the time is different. (And I’ll include all info in Monday’s edition of “The Thread.”) My goal is to work special guests in as much as possible for you all to ask whatever questions you have. We had a lot of fun with Tom Brady’s No. 1 receiver from high school on the call last Friday (John Kirby) and former Bills GM Doug Whaley the week before that. You’ll certainly hear some stories you haven’t before. Just remember a beer or five.
(Note: We’ll shoot for Saturday at 6 p.m. this week. Guest and log-in info to be shared soon.)
Go Long Discussion Thread. Love that these have been a hit so far. The conversations with subscribers have been so fascinating each week— and what a riot we had during Super Bowl LV. Always great to hear your perspective. Don’t be shy. Dive on in and let the takes rip. I really want to “meet” and get to know every single subscriber right here.
Go Long Podcast. You can download the pod at Apple and Spotify any time. And for those in and around Western New York, be on the lookout for live events. We plan on hosting shows and meet-and-greets through the offseason.
All in all, man, I’ve always cherished the offseason. For the mission at Go Long, it’s such a perfect time to really get to know players and tell some big-picture stories. You can expect full NFL Draft coverage. The angle here is to provide profiles on prospects instead of film study and mock drafts. We’ll cover free agency immediately. And expect the occasional penetrating look into the inner-workings of teams, too.
Once again, thank you.
This venture has been a leap of faith for the whole Dunne fam here at our WNY HQ. We’d be honored and grateful if you considered subscribing right here:
In case you missed it, here are our top 10 most-read stories these first 2 1/2 months:
The Pressure is on Josh Allen: Part I here and Part II there.
The Green Bay Packers have a plan. (It’s genius, too.)
Andy Janovich wants to kick your ass.
Will the Minnesota Vikings finally rise under Mike Zimmer? Part I here and Part II there.
How Logan Ryan made the Giants believe.
The Perfect Storm: How Stefon Diggs changed everything in Buffalo
The Long Reign: How three players and three tipping points sparked a potential Chiefs dynasty
Buffalo’s secret weapon? Isaiah McKenzie.
Drew Bledsoe, unfiltered
The Last Badass: Vince Williams will change for no one