Whether it was his passionate defense of Colin Kaepernick, his show of support for Malcolm Jenkins' raised fist by draping his arm around his teammate during the national anthem or his strong words about racism and violence in his hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia, Chris Long has been extraordinarily outspoken since he joined the Eagles.
Now he's more than outspoken.
"I had a few people that were like, 'Hey, these gestures are great but why don't you guys get out there in your communities?'" Long said.
So he is.
Long announced via his Twitter account earlier this week that he plans to donate his first six game checks from this year's salary - more than $350,000 - to create two scholarships for students in Charlottesville.
At his locker on Wednesday, he explained what led to the remarkably generous gesture.
Sports
In partnership with NBC Sports Philadelphia
"My wife and I have been investing in scholarships in my hometown for a while," Long said. "I'm interested in education, always have been, and … the best way I can give back to something I love is take it out of my game check, because what I love doing is playing football.
"I could [fund the scholarship] another way, but just taking it out of my game check makes it real easy for me to realize why I'm coming to work every day. It's been a blessing."
Long, 32, is in his 10th NFL season and first with the Eagles. He's the son of Hall of Fame defensive end Howie Long, who graduated from Villanova in 1981.
Chris Long had his first sack as an Eagle Sunday against the Chiefs. He now has 59½ in his career.
"I've been lucky," Long said. "I've made a lot of money in my career, so it's not like I'm scrapping check to check. This isn't a hero thing. It's nothing like that. It's honestly just that I want to put my money where my mouth is.
"It's something we've done before, but we're upping the ante this time."
Long signed a two-year, $4.5 million contract with the Eagles this offseason after winning a Super Bowl ring with the Patriots last year, the first time he's ever played for a team with a winning record.
His 2017 base salary is $1 million, which means each of his 17 game checks equal $58,823. Six game checks equal $352,941.
Long said being able to donate that kind of money makes the game more meaningful for him.
"It for certain does," he said. "It means a lot to go out and play football every Sunday. To be honest, I would play games for free. The thing I wouldn't do for free is sit in meetings and do practice every day.
"Honestly, it's a joy no matter what. But just knowing that the game checks are going to that makes it more special for me. You know, 10th year, you don't know how long you'll be able to do this, so your platform is really important and meaningful now. You don't know how meaningful it'll be in a year or two."
Long said he's not done yet, either.
His foundation - the Chris Long Foundation - has more charity work in store in the coming weeks.
"My foundation is going to launch another campaign this year that's going to be similar that's hopefully going to have some fan involvement," Long said.
"It's going to be broader reaching than just a couple kids getting scholarships, so I'm excited about that."
