NEWS - NOVEMBER 2017
Eagles' Chris Long, Bears' Kyle Long play against each other - maybe for last time | Bob Ford - The Philly Inquirer
Updated: NOVEMBER 26, 2017 — 6:32 PM EST
For most of the afternoon, Chris Long and Kyle Long were like cars hurtling at one another with great force, but separated by a full lane. Regardless of that, it wasn’t just another set of anonymous face masks across the line on this day for the Eagles left defensive end and the right guard of the Chicago Bears.
“It would be really weird if he was lined up right in front of me,” Chris Long said after the Eagles humiliated the Bears, 31-3, with the defense limiting one of the best statistical rushing offenses in the league to just six yards. “Luckily, we don’t have to deal with each other much, but it’s odd because he’s one of my best friends. I look across at him and I know what he’s going through. He knows what I’m going through. At the end of the day, we’re lucky.”
This season, it’s a lot luckier to be the 32-year-old Chris, whose team is now 10-1 and on a nine-game winning streak. For 29-year-old Kyle, the 6-foot-6, 313-pound baby brother, slogging along with 3-8 Bears despite dealing with a partially torn labrum, two dislocated fingers, a torn tendon in his hand, and a reconstructed ankle isn’t in quite as lucky a spot.
“I’m proud of him,” Chris Long said. “It’s not easy playing in this league. I’ve been there and I’ve played hurt before and I know what it’s like. He’s struggling, but he’s pushing through. I’m proud, but more than anything, you never know the last time you’ll play against your brother. It goes just like that. I remember when he was a rookie.”
This was the third time the Long brothers, sons of former Villanova and NFL star Howie Long, have played against each other. Maybe it was the last. If so, Kyle Long took advantage of the opportunity.
“I got to hit him a couple times, put my hands on him and trade some verbal barbs. You want to keep it light, but it’s a rare opportunity and you want to make the most of it,” Kyle Long said. “One time, they ran a stunt and Bobby [right tackle Bobby Massie] passed him to me. I saw that he was going to the ground. I didn’t apologize. I just kind of laid on top of him and I said, ‘I love you.’ And he said it back, actually — which was pretty cool.”
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Chris Long the activist takes advantage of his NFL platform with Eagles
NOVEMBER 24, 2017 — 8:36 PM EST
Zach Berman - The Philly Inquirer
Chris Long traveled to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in the winter of 2013. Now a defensive end for the Eagles, Long was then a high-profile player on the St. Louis Rams who wanted to experience “something out of my comfort zone.”
The mountain was the motivation, the challenge of climbing 20,000 feet, of experiencing life beyond pressuring the quarterback on third-and-8.
“I really enjoyed that,” Long said, “but what I saw was an opportunity to really improve the world.”
It happened in the hotel bar after the climb. Long celebrated with former teammate James Hall over a few drinks.
“Hey, Chris!” Long heard behind him.
Surprised that someone knew him in Tanzania, Long turned around and saw sportscaster Joe Buck. Buck was with Doug Pitt, the Goodwill ambassador to Tanzania. During their conversation, Long learned about the need for clean water in Tanzania and the suffering that water-borne illnesses caused in a place that enchanted him.
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WFAN Announces New Afternoon, Morning Hosts
November 15, 2017
NEW YORK (WFAN) — The No. 1 sports talk radio station in the country, New York’s legendary WFAN Sports Radio 101.9 FM and Sports Radio 66 AM, announced Wednesday a fresh new lineup and distinctive new voices to coincide with the launch of the new year.
Gregg Giannotti, currently co-host of “Gio & Jones” on CBS Sports Radio, has been named co-host of the newly renamed WFAN morning show, “Boomer & Gio,” alongside Boomer Esiason. Later in the day, SportsRadio 94WIP’s Chris Carlin, former New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott and Maggie Gray of CBS Sports Radio and Sports Illustrated will host a long-awaited new afternoon program, “The Afternoon Drive with Carlin, Bart and Maggie.” Further bolstering The Fan’s weekday lineup, longtime audience favorites Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts will now host a fourth hour.
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Chris Long Stops By at The Ellen Show
Philadelphia Eagles star and philanthropist Chris Long stopped by to talk to Ellen about his career and donating his paychecks to his initiative, Pledge 10 for Tomorrow.
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Chris Long on Charlottesville scholarships: ‘I’m doing something bigger’ than football
NFL star and former University of Virginia student Chris Long appears on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” Friday on CBS 6.
The Philadelphia Eagles defensive end chats with Ellen about his decision to donate his entire salary this season to charity.
In fact, his first six paychecks are funding scholarships for students in Charlottesville and his remaining ten paychecks put toward “Pledge 10 for Tomorrow,” his initiative supporting educational equity in the three cities he has played in the NFL: Philadelphia, St. Louis, and Boston.
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Listen to Philadelphia Eagles defensive lineman, Chris Long, mic'd up against the Denver Broncos during Week 9.
Published on Nov 8, 2017
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NFL Network's 'A Football Life' Profiles Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly
'Jim Kelly: A Football Life' Premieres Friday, November 3 at 9:00 PM ET
"I can go on and on, all of the ups and downs in my life. But the Lord was preparing me for what I'm doing now and that's hopefully making a difference for others out there." – Jim Kelly
NFL Network's Emmy-nominated series A Football Life continues Friday, November 3 at 9:00 PM ET with a profile of Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly. The one-hour show produced by NFL Films features sitdown interviews with Kelly, his wife and daughters, Hall of Famers Marv Levy, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed and Bill Polian, and more.
Each episode of A Football Life – as well as all NFL Network programming – is streamed live on smartphones through NFL Mobile from Verizon, and via Watch NFL Network on tablet (NFL Mobile, Watch NFL Network and NFL on Windows 10 apps), PC (NFL.com/watch), Xbox One and Xbox 360 (NFL on Xbox app) and other connected TV devices (NFL app on Apple TV, PlayStation 4, Android TV and Amazon Fire TV).
Throughout his life, Jim Kelly has been defined by his toughness and his ability to pick himself up following hardships. No matter the circumstance – suffering a serious shoulder injury his senior season at the University of Miami, losing in four consecutive Super Bowls, the loss of his son Hunter Kelly, his cancer diagnosis – Kelly has displayed an ability to fight through and to not be defeated.
Among the topics discussed in Jim Kelly: A Football Life are:
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Playing at the University of Miami after Penn State only offered him a scholarship to play linebacker
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Kelly's decision to play in the USFL after being selected by the Buffalo Bills in the 1983 NFL Draft
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Eventually playing for the Buffalo Bills following the collapse of the USFL in 1986
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The birth of the K-Gun offense
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Kelly's perseverance to overcome the loss of his son Hunter Kelly and his cancer diagnosis