One NFL Player Is Donating His Entire 2017 Salary

'I want to celebrate the awesome opportunity I've had to play football by giving back'
By Michael Harthorne,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 19, 2017 2:44 PM CDT
One NFL Player Is Donating His Entire 2017 Salary
Chris Long, left, is donating his entire 2017 salary to charity.   (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Chris Long is playing the entire 2017 NFL season without making a cent for it. CBS News reports the Philadelphia Eagles defensive end already donated his first six game checks to fund scholarships at a school in his hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia. And on Wednesday Long announced he would be using his final 10 game checks to start the Pledge 10 for Tomorrow campaign to increase educational equality. "In my 10th year, I want to celebrate the awesome opportunity I've had to play football by giving back to the communities that have given me that gift," Long says in a statement. According to the New York Times, Long says he's giving up his paychecks this year because he believes "that education is the best gateway to a better tomorrow for everyone in America.

The Pledge 10 for Tomorrow campaign will fund four organizations in St. Louis, Boston, and Philadelphia—the three cities in which Long has played professional football—that work to make it easier for under-served youth to have access to equal education opportunities, ESPN reports. Long is no stranger to philanthropy. He started a foundation two years ago to work on homelessness, clean water access, and more. Long also gained some attention earlier this year when he put his arm around a black teammate who raised his fist during the national anthem and when he refused to visit the White House with the rest of the Super Bowl-winning New England Patriots. Long's base salary in 2017 is $1 million. (More Chris Long stories.)

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