Eagles defensive end Chris Long tweeted a selfie prior to the big Super Bowl victory parade in Philadelphia. The picture shows the two-time champ looking extremely stylish in a long fur coat and sunglasses.
https://twitter.com/JOEL9ONE/status/961571153956474880
Now Long obviously looks pretty cool in the picture, no doubt about that, but is it cool enough to justify over 9,000 retweets and over 47,0000 likes? After all, Jason Kelce didn’t get nearly as much attention for a picture posted by fellow Eagle Stefen Wisniewski, and he dressed up like some sort of crazy Irish genie or something.
Parade mood
— Stefen Wisniewski (@stefenwiz61) February 8, 2018
@Eagles pic.twitter.com/XTcPZBocUz
So why is Long receiving so much extra love? Is it that, under the fur coat, he appears to be wearing the jersey of famed Philadelphia 76er Allen Iverson? Could it be that he won the Super Bowl last year playing for the Patriots, and the fans see this victory as some sort of revenge?
Possibly, but most likely it’s because Long, who contemplated retirement after last season, instead decided to come back and donate his entire NFL salary to charity following the violent protests in his hometown Charlottesville, Virginia, last year. It’s an act of love that caught the eye of former president Barack Obama.
Chris Long gave his paychecks from the first six games of the NFL season to fund scholarships in Charlottesville, VA. He wanted to do more, so he decided to give away an entire season’s salary. That’s a story from 2017. https://t.co/NL0RoARkan
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 29, 2017
Long was inspired to donate his paychecks with special attention given to helping low-income students with their education. Of course, he also supports everything from clean water initiatives in Tanzania to military veterans in the United States, all through The Chris Long Foundation.
“Being from Charlottesville, all eyes are on you,” Long said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune. “What are you going to do about this? It’s like: ‘Are you going to be a positive influence? Are you just going to sit and watch?’ It’s not going to change the world. It’s not going to solve the world’s problems. I have to do my little part.”
His “little part” is going to not only going to help a lot of kids get a better education, but he could also inspire others to follow his example.
And, to be fair, he does look pretty great in that coat.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified Jason Kelce.