The Eagles paid Chris Long a million dollars last year for his services on the football field and Long pocketed not a penny for that money, opting to help the community by donating his entire salary. The craziest part? He wasn’t done there.
Long, back with the Eagles will donating a quarter of his salary this season to support education. With the defensive end earning $2,500,000, that’s nearly $700.000.
The two-time Super Bowl champion will put the money towards early literacy program in the city of Philadelphia, setting a goal for himself to get 75,000 books in the hands of children by the time they reach 4th grade, allowing them to learn to read for a better future.
Long announced the news on Twitter.
Big news! We are continuing our commitment to education this this season with the launch of First Quarter for Literacy! I’m donating a quarter of my salary and teaming up with the @PhillySJUnited to support #Philly’s @Readby4th campaign and make sure we do our part [cont 1 of 3] pic.twitter.com/YpeQcKvpYh
— Chris Long (@JOEL9ONE) September 28, 2018
[cont 2 of 3] to develop strong readers by 4th grade. Did you know that if kids are reading on grade level by the start of 4th grade, they are much more likely to succeed in school, graduate on time, and go on to earn more throughout their lives.
— Chris Long (@JOEL9ONE) September 28, 2018
[cont 3 of 3] Help us get as many books to kids who need them! Learn more about our #FirstQuarterforLiteracy drive, and how you can team up with us to #makeadifference at https://t.co/4up4couYa8
— Chris Long (@JOEL9ONE) September 28, 2018
The charitable efforts follow not just his salary donation from the 2017 season, but mission trips to Africa Long helped lead in this offseason.
The world could use more people like Chris Long.