Former NFL defensive end Chris Long has been honored many times for his off-field work and he received another honor on Tuesday night.
Long was named this year’s recipient of the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award in recognition of “his commitment to giving back through strategic, multifaceted efforts.” The award was one of many given out in Los Angeles and portions of the ceremony will be shown on ESPN later this month.
Long donated six weeks of his 2017 salary to fund scholarships in his hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia and the remaining 10 weeks went to educational initiatives in St. Louis, Boston and Philadelphia. He also donated a quarter of his 2018 salary to a literacy initiative and has long supported the Waterboys program that builds wells in East Africa.
Those efforts were recognized by the NFL when the league named Long the Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2018.
Long announced his retirement earlier this year. He played for the Rams, Patriots and Eagles and won Super Bowls with the latter two teams.