Saturday, February 11, 2017

BenFred: Chris Long wins Super Bowl, and afterparty


Patriots" Chris Long Has Fun At Super Bowl LI Opening Night

Compare Super Bowl resumes with your dad on national TV? Check.

Pound down a brew in public and chase it with a long pull of Grey Goose? You bet.

Splay out across a moving vehicle Titanic-style during your victory parade? done.

what will chris long do next?

There were two pluses to the often-obnoxious New England Patriots lifting their latest Lombardi. The first was watching an embarrassed Roger Goodell run a 4.2 40-yard dash off the stage following the trophy presentation. Football"s cartel king wasn"t fast enough to avoid a healthy dose of boos from New England fans who will never forgive him for the Deflategate debacle.

The second was seeing Long celebrate like a guy who spent the first eight seasons of his career on a team that never won more than seven games and never made the playoffs.

"That game, it was like being part of the worst nightmare you could ever dream up. And then, within an hour, we were all in this great dream," Long said during a Fox Sports interview after the Patriots erased a 25-point deficit to beat the Falcons on Sunday night in Houston.

Long knows nightmares. The defensive end endured a 33-80-1 record in his 114 games as a Ram. He never played in more than three straight wins while suiting up for St. Louis.

His Patriots won three straight to start the season, then four straight after their first loss, then closed the season on a run of 10 in a row. He was never not a good soldier. He continued to thank fans for their support. He shouldered more than his fair share of blame.

The Rams thanked him by releasing him after they relocated to Los Angeles.

But that"s in the past now.

Long"s dream rolled on in downtown Boston on Tuesday. He was front and center during the Patriots" victory parade. He chugged booze, wore a Julian Edelman mask and wallowed in what it feels like to be the ultimate winner.

These were all fun, funny moments. But what will stick with me is the public conversation Long shared with his father during that televised interview after the confetti fell.

The son cracked a joke.

"I did it in nine years," Chris reminded his dad, Hall of Famer Howie Long."It took him 13. So that"s kind of sad."

The father struck a more serious tone.

"This is a guy who I"ve seen work so hard," Howie said of Chris. "He"s always done it the right way. He"s always been a great teammate, a great brother, a great son, a great father, a great husband. If anyone deserves the opportunity to win a championship, it"s this guy."

Anyone who watched Long in St. Louis has to agree with that.

Source: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/ben-frederickson/benfred-chris-long-wins-super-bowl-and-afterparty/article_f74174a9-18ed-5990-bd48-67c5e7a2c9de.html

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