Long’s apology for celebration didn’t come from dear old dad
PHILADELPHIA » Chris Long’s repentant tweet for prematurely celebrating a strip sack Monday night was purely his idea.
Sort of a preemptive strike.
“I sincerely apologize to the city of Philadelphia for running away from a live ball,” Long tweeted on his certified Twitter account. “I was a bit confused as to there being a live ball. Obviously. Glad we could get off the field!!! Thanks for bringing it fans!!! Ugly win over a pretty loss!!!”
Knowing the fabric of the family, it’s safe to say Long was at least subtly influenced by his father, Hall of Fame defensive tackle Howie, his mother, Diane, and Howie Jr., his younger brother who works in pro personnel for the Raiders. All attended the Eagles-Raiders game. In the Long family, being a chip off the old block means making your own decisions, even if they seem like something dad would do.
“Did it look like he did?” Chris Long said with a smile. “No, it was a dumb play. I mean I wasn’t like crying at my keyboard. I made a good play and I didn’t finish it. I didn’t know the ball was out. I thought I just sacked him and I was kind of ticked off because I sacked him earlier and they called it back for an offsides penalty. I just started running off the field and it was third down. When I tweeted it, it was kind of like one of those things, ‘Yeah, I’m an idiot, I hear you and before you guys get on me let me get on myself.’”
With five sacks, Long is tied with rookie Derek Barnett for third on the Eagles. Brandon Graham, nursing an ankle injury, has a teamleading 9½ sacks. Three weeks ago, Long’s stripsack of Jared Goff set up the triumphant field goal in a road victory over the Los Angeles Rams. Though Long’s strip sack of Derek Carr was recovered by the Raiders, it blew up a promising drive in a tie football game.
Growing up the son of a Hall of Fame football player, TV personality and actor was an adventure for Chris Long. He and his younger brother Howie, consistently find themselves on the opposite side of the dinner table from Howie Sr. and Kyle Long, the brother who plays for the Chicago Bears. While their pop and Kyle talk football, Chris and Howie Jr. lighten the atmosphere with their brand of humor. Take dad’s acting resume.
“Well, I wouldn’t call him a movie star,” Long said recently. “He was in movies. You’ve got to be up at like 4 in the morning to see the movies. He jokes that he still gets royalty checks for like $5 for Firestorm. The coolest thing about my dad is he doesn’t take it too seriously. He did his thing after football. He can kind of joke on himself which is awesome. My dad didn’t grow up with a whole lot. Football gave him a whole lot and in turn gave me a lot of opportunities. He just tried to raise my brothers and I in a way where we were grounded, so we didn’t feel like we were special. And certainly, when your dad is a Hall of Famer, nothing you do feels like it’s a big deal. If I go out and have a great game, it’s easy to be humble about it.”
It’s also easy to be humble about plays he would have done differently.
“It wasn’t my smartest play,” Long said. “But at the end of the day I’m not apologizing for making the play.”
*** And then there’s Lane Johnson, the Eagles’ Pro Bowl offensive tackle who told reporters Wednesday he was “done talking for the year.”
Later Johnson amended that to “maybe for the rest of my career.”
Johnson didn’t come across as a pro’s pro in blaming the officials for the three penalties he committed against the Raiders during the post-game locker room.
Johnson then bah-humbugged everybody who wanted to hold him accountable for his mistakes, reasoning that a win should be good enough for them.
“It just gets to the point where we are winning the game, but nobody is satisfied anymore,” Johnson said. “So, we won the game. That’s all that matters.”
The Eagles are an NFLbest 13-2. Most of that came when Carson Wentz was healthy.
While Johnson was chastizing critics, new Eagles quarterback Nick Foles was telling reporters he had to play better.
That goes for the whole Philly offense, as it entered the game ranked first in scoring and third in third down conversion success and totaled just one TD while converting one of 14 third downs.
If the Eagles keep playing like that, the Johnson ban on interviews could end sooner, rather than later.
*** The Eagles signed receiver Rashard Davis to the practice squad and subtracted center Jon Toth from the practice squad.