Philadelphia Eagles: Chris Long’s charity has finally been acknowledged

After personifying what it means to be a professional athlete over the last two years with the Philadelphia Eagles, Chris Long has been named the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year.

Though he’s only been a member of the Philadelphia Eagles for two seasons, Chris Long has quietly become one of the franchises most decorated players.

Joining the franchise at the tender age of 32, fresh of the heels of a win in Super Bowl 51, Long perfectly assimilated himself into Jim Schwartz‘s defensive rotation and helped to vault his position group into one of the NFL’s elite position groups.

And best of all? He did so while donating every one of his game checks to charity.

Wow.

Since then, Long continued to build a strong portfolio of charitable giving in 2018, once again donating his base salary to childhood literacy, in addition to the further development of his charity Waterboys; an organization that “puts professional athletes and sports fans on the same team in pursuit of one goal: Bringing life-sustaining drinking water to communities in need.” according to its official website.

Having already teamed up with current and former Birds like Connor Barwin and Beau Allen on various occasions, Long’s Waterboys have helped to fund over 55 wells across the African continent since 2015, with plenty more surely to come now.

And after three nominations, Long has officially been named the Walter Payton Man of the Year, joining an elite collection of NFL players whose impact on the game has far exceeded their on-field performance.

With his 2018 victory, Long had become only the third player in Eagles franchise history to win the award, joining an exclusive club alongside Harold Carmichael in 1980, and Troy Vincent in 2002, an exclusive club that every player should aspire to join.

So needless to say, if 2018 does, in fact, mark Long’s final season in the NFL, he will not only be remembered as a two-time Super Bowl champion who recorded 252 career tackles, 15 forced fumbles, and 70 sacks over 170 games but as one of the best, most generous players to ever suit up in the century-old game of football.  Howie, you raised yourself a good one.