Chicago Bears' Long admires big brother's charity donations
Bears guard Kyle Long's older brother Chris is playing the entire 2017 season for charity.
After the violence that occurred when white nationalist demonstrators clashed with counter-protestors in his hometown of Charlottesville, Va., Chris Long donated his first six game checks to local scholarship causes.
Now, the 32-year-old defensive end, who is in his first season with the Philadelphia Eagles, has pledged to donate his remaining 10 game checks to support educational equity in Philadelphia, Boston and St. Louis, the three markets that he's played in during his 10-year career.
"If I played in the NFL for 10 years," Long said, "and didn't do anything off the field, didn't help anybody, if I had this platform and didn't use it, I would feel like I wasted it."
Kyle Long says his brother is a role model.
"It speaks volumes about the man that he is," the Bears' guard said. "He's what a lot of people should strive to be like, he's what I try to be like. Just admirable, and it goes without saying that's a tremendous thing he's doing."
Toiling in obscurity:
Nose tackle Eddie Goldman had 6 solo tackles Sunday in one of the best games of his three-year career.
Goldman's efforts often go unrecognized because at his position he's often absorbing double-team blocks which helps free up teammates to make tackles.
"He's productive in what he does," coach John Fox said of the 6-foot-4, 320-pound Goldman. "His job description is not as flashy as a quarterback or a receiver. But those guys, they've got a tough task. They're in there taking on 700-pound blocks sometimes, that means they're getting double-teamed. It's tough sledding in there, and he's done a good job. Knock on wood he's been healthy this year, which has really helped our defense."
Making it count:
Kendall Wright leads the Bears with a modest 236 receiving yards (on 20 catches).
He tied for the team lead in Week Six with 2 catches for 36 yards, including an 18-yard reception on third-and-11 in overtime that set up the game-winning field goal. But Wright, the closest thing the Bears have to a go-to wide receiver, has been used sparingly. He played just 25 of 80 snaps last week.
"It's by design," offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said. "He's a guy, in my opinion, who's better when he doesn't play 75 snaps, when he gets to play in that 25-35 range, and he's fresh and can bring the energy and juice like he did the last third down."
Elite competition:
Barring injuries, the Bears in the first eight weeks of the season, will face six Super Bowl quarterbacks, more than any other team.
They have already played the Falcons and Matt Ryan (Super Bowl LI), the Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger (XL, XLIII, XLV), the Packers' Aaron Rodgers (XLV) and the Ravens' Joe Flacco (SB XLVII). After Sunday's game against the Panthers and quarterback Cam Newton (SB L), the Bears travel to New Orleans to face the Saints and quarterback Drew Brees (SB XLIV).
By the numbers:
The Bears haven't won two games in a row since Week 10 in 2015, when they beat the Rams 37-13 in St. Louis after defeating the Chargers in San Diego 22-19.
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