Chris Long has been playing NFL football at a high level since 2008, so if he's even been slightly responsible with his money, chances are he's sitting on a pretty nice "nest egg".
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No matter what his finances are, though, it's rather clear that he feels he can do without the money he'd be making this season as a star defender for the Philadelphia Eagles. In fact, Long is in an incredibly charitable mood, because he's planning on giving the rest of his game checks to charity. This, after he gave up his game checks from the first six games of the season to provide scholarships for two students in his hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia.
Long is launching a campaign called Pledge 10 for Tomorrow. According to the campaign's website, $18,292 has already been raised, with Long, of course, leading the way. Here's his explanation:
"As you may already know, I have committed my first 6 game checks to fund scholarships in my hometown of Charlottesville, VA. Now, I'm pledging my last 10 game checks to organizations supporting educational equity and opportunity in St. Louis, Boston and Philadelphia - the three cities that I've called home throughout my NFL career. I'm playing the entire 2017 NFL season without collecting income because I believe that education is the best gateway to a better tomorrow for EVERYONE in America. I'm encouraging fans, businesses and every person with a desire to join in my pursuit of equal education opportunities for all students to make their own pledge. My goal is that through this campaign my donation will be doubled by those inspired to join the effort — because together we can accomplish more."
Long is asking people to come alongside him in his campaign and donate something for the last 10 games of the NFL season. Even if people can't donate for 10 weeks, though, Long is asking for them to give something to the kids of their city.
He's also added a bit of a stipulation for the city that's able to donate the most:
"As a professional athlete, I couldn't launch this without a little competition. For the city that has the most pledges at the end of week 16 of the regular season, I will give an additional $50,000 to our partner charity in that city!"
This is incredible, and productive, way for Long to give back to the communities that have given much to him as an NFL player. In 10 NFL seasons, he's been a part of the St. Louis Rams, New England Patriots, and now the Philadelphia Eagles.
Long is the former No. 2 overall pick of the 2008 NFL Draft out of Virginia. He won a Super Bowl with the Patriots last season.
