Eagles DE Chris Long Retires
Eagles DE Chris Long Retires
Former Eagles, Patriots, and Rams defensive end Chris Long has decided to call it a career. He was mulling retirement before last season as well, but he went for another spin before officially hanging them up. There was still a chance that he was going to play in 2019 as well, but he decided against it after realizing that he wasn’t going to receive enough playing time to justify returning for another year in such a grueling sport.
Long was originally drafted second overall in 2008 by the then St. Louis Rams and played eight seasons with the team. He totaled 54.5 sacks during his tenure with them. During his time, the Rams made zero playoff appearances, so he defected to the Patriots a month after his release from St. Louis. He tallied four sacks as a rotational pass rusher and won the Super Bowl in his first and only season with the team. He was the player involved on the holding call that doomed the Atlanta Falcons during New England’s historic Super Bowl comeback.
His last two years were spent in Philadelphia, and it seems like those were the best seasons of his career. He’s made it clear how much he loves the city. He was also a rotational pass rusher in Philadelphia, but repeatedly made impact plays whenever he was in the game. In his first year with the Eagles, he forced four fumbles, the most of his career. He added two more in 2018. He was also responsible for the Patrick Robinson’s game-changing interception return touchdown in the NFC Championship versus Minnesota. After his move to Philadelphia, he defeated his former team in Super Bowl LII to become a back-to-back champion. He had 11.5 sacks in his two seasons.
Long is also known for his amazing charity work. He famously donated his entire 2017 salary to charity, essentially playing for free. The following year, he donated a quarter of his salary to charity as well. He won the prestigious Walter Payton Man of the Year award this past season.
Cheers to Long on a successful career.
-By: Micah Jimoh