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PHILADELPHIA -- Eagles defensive end Chris Long has already raised an additional $150,000 for educational equality just one day after pledging the remainder of his 2017 salary to the cause. He was walking off the practice field Thursday when he got word that a group in St. Louis had pledged $56,000. “That stuff just makes your day,” he said. “It’s so cool. There’s a lot of good still left in the world, you know what I mean?” Long gave up his first six game checks to provide two scholarships for students in his hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia. Now, he's using the next 10 to launch the Pledge 10 for Tomorrow campaign, which will benefit four organizations based in the three communities in which Long has played during his NFL career -- Philadelphia, St. Louis and the Boston area. The charitable initiative encourages people to make donations to improve equal education opportunities. Long has gotten responses from fans, organizations and players. Veteran Rams offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth has pledged $5,000 a game, which amounts to $50,000 for the season. A member of his foundation urged Long to circle back with Whitworth to make sure he knew that the $5,000 pledge was weekly, and not just a one-time deal. “I hit him up and I’m like, ‘Dude, thank you. But I want to make sure I have the number right,’ and that’s what he really intended to do,” said Long. “Everybody cares about education. Kids can’t control their circumstance, their home life, their educational opportunities, so I think that’s why guys want to get involved.” The entirety of Long’s $1 million salary is going to charitable efforts, along with all of the additional money raised through this match initiative. “I always thought maybe it would be cool to play for free. I did,” he said. “I thought it would be like a personal test to see if I’m really the guy I’d like to be, you know? And of course it’s way easier to do that making a million dollars, and the years I was making a bunch of money. But I’m lucky, I’ve been lucky. It’s not a heroic effort. I just believe my platform is going to shrink from here out. If I’m not playing football in a couple years and I do this, it’s not going to have the same affect.” Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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