Bob Long, former Packers player who brought Pizza Hut to Sheboygan in 1969, has died at 83
Former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Bob Long died Sunday at his home in Brookfield at age 83.
Alex GarnerSHEBOYGAN – Pizza Hut marked 55 years in the city in 2024, but only because of a Green Bay Packers wide receiver who got it started.
Bob Long, who passed away Sunday, was a former Green Bay Packers player and president of Pizza Hut Corporation.
He brought the first Pizza Hut to Sheboygan in summer 1969, at the northeast corner of North 14th Street and Erie Avenue, formerly the Erie Eat Shoppe. It was the sixth location in Wisconsin: Pizza Huts also operated in Appleton, Green Bay, Fond du Lac and Stevens Point.
Pizza Hut joined the company of other local pizzerias, like Faye’s on Calumet Drive and Pizza Village on North Eighth Street, which opened in 1957 and 1961, respectively.
The dine-in pizza chain remained near the intersection until it moved to South Taylor Drive in 2013. It became carry-out only.
In 1958, brothers Dan and Frank Carney founded Pizza Hut in Wichita, Kansas. More than 6,000 restaurants are in the U.S. today, with about 130 concentrated in Wisconsin. Nearby locations include Sheboygan Falls and Manitowoc.
Sheboygan’s second Pizza Hut was built in 1978, this one at 2727 S. Business Drive, south of the former Park and Shop Supermarket.
Long had opened a Pizza Hut nearby in Plymouth, too, according to a Sheboygan Press clip. He was operating more than 25 franchises at the time. The Plymouth location is now closed.
A Domino’s Pizza replaced Sheboygan’s first Pizza Hut location.
About Bob Long
Former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Bob Long died March 16 at his home in Brookfield. He was 83 years old.
Long spent the first four years of his seven-year professional career with the Packers. He was drafted in the fourth round, 44th overall, of the 1964 NFL draft. He was drafted in the 10th round of the AFL draft by the San Diego Chargers, but he chose to play for the Packers.
Long played for coach Vince Lombardi in Green Bay until 1967 and in Washington in 1969, where he had his best year, starting every game and catching 48 passes for 533 yards and one touchdown. In four years with the Packers, he started four games, caught 25 passes for 487 yards and four touchdowns. He also played one year in Atlanta and one year for the Rams in Los Angeles.
Long started only 29 games in seven years, but he played for Lombardi twice, played in the Ice Bowl, played in Super Bowls I and II, was on three consecutive NFL championship teams, and played with 12 Pro Football Hall of Famers.
Long sold his franchise locations in Wisconsin to PepsiCo in the 1970s. The Sheboygan locations are franchised under EYM Pizza of Wisconsin, which has locations in Illinois, Indiana, Georgia and South Carolina, too.
Besides Pizza Hut, Long developed more than 60 franchises and at one time operated 24 stores.
Rich Ryman of the Green Bay Press-Gazette contributed to this report.
Contact Alex Garner at 224-374-2332 or agarner@gannett.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @alexx_garner.