Tom Brady is one of the most polarizing figures in sports, and many fans hate him simply because he has dominated the NFL for nearly 20 years now. As far as Chris Long is concerned, jealousy is the only reason anyone could dislike the future Hall of Famer.
Long, who announced his retirement from football over the weekend, spent one season playing for the Patriots in 2016. He told Peter King of NBC Sports that one year was enough time for Brady to make a huge impression on him.
“Tom Brady blew me away. Who’s the most famous athlete of our generation: Tom Brady? LeBron? Messi? Ronaldo? Serena Williams? Maybe I haven’t been around enough to know how the biggest stars really act. But Brady is a normal guy,” Long said. “When I got there, here comes Tom. ‘Hey Chris, I’m Tom, nice to meet you.’ Well, yeah, I know you’re Tom. A lot of people want to hate him for all the success, and I understand how you can dislike the Patriots, but I cannot understand how you can dislike Tom.”
Long has a very unique perspective, as he saw two different winning cultures in a span of two seasons. After the defensive end won a Super Bowl with the Patriots in 2016, he then joined the Philadelphia Eagles and immediately captured his second championship. Some of Long’s teammates with the Eagles went out of their wash to bash the Patriots, though none said anything about Brady in particular.
Most players who have played in New England with Brady share a similar opinion to Long’s. While you can say you don’t like the Patriots because of Spygate or Deflategate or whatever other Gate you can come up with, the real reason they’re so despised is because they keep winning. As someone whose career benefitted from that commitment to excellence, you can understand why Long enjoyed his time playing alongside Brady.
