Chris Long to donate game checks to fund scholarships in Charlottesville, Va

Chris Long didn’t have to do anything else for Eagles fans to be proud of him, but he’s managed to to do something else we can all smile about.

There’s really no reason not to like Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Chris Long. Being the son of a member of the NFL Hall of Fame could be enough to have some look down on others. Instead, Long extends his hand to anyone who needs it, and pulls them up.

He’s stood with teammates in an attempt to show athletes can make a stand for racial harmony. His Chris Long Foundation helps raise money for the Waterboys Initiative. That’s a program dedicated to building wells for communities in East Africa. He became the one of the spearheads for raising money to help the victims and their families following one of the more tragic moments in this country’s recent memory.

It was a tragic moment that occurred in his hometown, Charlottesville, Virginia. Before that, this was a city most of us knew little about. Now, Long is giving us reason to look at his hometown and smile. He’s decided to donate his first six game checks to fund scholarships for students who are living there.

Here’s some of what he had to say on the subject:

"In August, we watched people fill our hometown streets with hatred and bigotry. Megan (his wife) and I decided to try to combat those actions with our own positive investment in our community. With everything that happened over the summer that really shed a negative light on a really good community that we have in Charlottesville, I thought it would be good to kind of put my money where my mouth was and take it out of the check that I get for doing something that I love."

Money isn’t everything, but it can make a difference.

It kind of gives new meaning to the phrase “money isn’t everything” doesn’t it? To Long, money can be used as a way to make someone else’s life better. To someone Long may never meet, it may give them an opportunity to have a positive future.

He had more to say on the subject:

"Certainly I’ve been lucky, I’ve made a lot of money in my career, it’s not like I’m playing for, you know, $30 million this year or something. I’m an older guy, I’m not taking a ton of money relative to NFL standards, but any little bit helps in your community and for me we were just trying to turn a negative into a positive."

There’s nothing else that really needs to be said. It’s really easy to like this guy. He deserves everything good that comes his way.