A letter to Philadelphia Eagles DE Chris Long (that he may never read)

The now-former Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Chris Long was a special individual, both on and off the field. Here’s a letter he may never read.

If he wasn’t altering passes in the NFC Championship Game that resulted in pick-six touchdowns, he was donating the checks in an effort to help his hometown or advance the lives or education of someone else. If he wasn’t doing that, he was building wells so someone can have clean drinking water. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we’re discussing former Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Chris Long.

On Saturday night, the Eagles thanked Long for everything he’s done for this organization and thanked him for an amazing NFL career.

Take a look:

This was a moment worthy of a few thank yous. We won’t be overly-wordy, but we would like to offer a few heartfelt words of our own.

Dear Mr. Long:

Most of us will never know what it’s like to stick our heads in an NFL huddle. We’ll never know the comradery of a pro football team’s locker room. We’ll never know the joy of being on a team that raised the Lombardi Trophy.

You know how all of that feels, not to mention the fact that you actually raised that Lombardi Trophy on two different teams.

It’s your contribution to that second Super Bowl-winning roster that has you in our hearts forever.

Mr. Long, we’ve never met. We never shook hands. We never had a conversation. I’ve seen you a few times, but again, there was no eye contact. Maybe it was the cool tattoos. Maybe it was just the way you carried yourself. Maybe it was me thinking of Malcolm Jenkins fist in the air, and you placing your hand on his shoulder.

While so many others saw that as disrespectful, you chose to build a bridge instead of a wall. You chose to try to be understanding, so yes, I feel like I should have found a reason to point my voice recorder in your direction.

I’ve seen plenty of guys give away money. I’ve never seen anyone give away a year’s salary to charity. I just always wanted to know where that type of humility and philanthropy came from.

Truthfully, and this is no disrespect to JJ Watt, in my mind, you were the Walter Payton NFL man of the Year then. Yes, Watt deserved it, but maybe that year, they could have given it to two people. I don’t think anyone would have complained.

Mr. Long, it’s those things that have placed you on my mind today and may have you on my mind forever. Yeah, you had game. You were more than just a guy who had a Hall-of-Fame father. You proved you belonged in the mighty NFL, and even though your time in the green jersey was brief, you’ve left us with a ton of memories that will live on with us forever.

I’ll say this, and this may just be my opinion, but it is what it is. They can go ahead and put your number up in the Linc’s rafters forever. No one else deserves to wear the ’56’ jersey. There aren’t too many men that measure up, let alone another football player.

Congrats on a great career, and good luck with all of your future endeavors. I’m sure most of them will be done with the mindset of making someone else’s life better. Just do us a favor. Try and do something nice for yourself as well. You deserve it.