Q&A: Chris Long and Connor Barwin on their shared love of Philly, bonding on Mount Kilimanjaro, and this year’s Eagles
Ahead of their second-annual Team Dinner on Monday night, the former defensive ends discussed why they can’t shake the city — or its football team.
On Monday night, former Eagles defensive ends Connor Barwin and Chris Long will host their second-annual Team Dinner charity event at Steak 48 in Center City. The event, which will feature athletes, celebrities, and more, will raise money for Barwin’s Make The World Better Foundation and the Chris Long Foundation. The pair spoke to The Inquirer ahead of the event.
Barwin, who now works for the Eagles, and Long, now in the media as a podcaster, were never teammates, but shared a mutual respect for each other’s games. And before Long signed with the Eagles, he got some “intel” from Barwin, who left shortly before Long arrived. “Connor was like half the reason I came to Philly,” Long said. A year later, the two climbed Mount Kilimanjaro together.
The two remain close to the city, with Barwin living in Philadelphia and Long considering it his second home. “I think it’s just an appreciation for the city, and how much they love sports,” Barwin said of his connection to Philly. “If you love sports, it’s a great place to live and work.”
Long, who still refers to the Eagles as “we,” said this year’s team “is really easy to get excited about.” Then he made a bolder proclamation: “I think, personally, the defense is probably better than our defense the year we won the Super Bowl.”
On Monday night, former Eagles defensive ends Connor Barwin and Chris Long will host their second-annual Team Dinner charity event at Steak 48 in Center City. The event, which will feature athletes, celebrities, and more, will raise money for Barwin’s Make The World Better Foundation and the Chris Long Foundation.
Although the two were never teammates — Barwin was with the Eagles from 2013-2016, Long joined the following year — and neither is from Philadelphia, they became friends and have remained close to the city after their playing careers ended. Barwin put down roots here and now works for the Eagles as the head of football development and strategy, while Long hosts a popular podcast (Green Light) and still refers to the Eagles as “we.” And both players’ foundations continue to do work in and around the city.
Ahead of Monday’s Team Dinner, Long and Barwin chatted with The Inquirer about their charity work, their friendship, and their shared love of Philadelphia and the Eagles. Here are some highlights …
This is the second year you guys have hosted the Team Dinner. How did it go last year? What made you decide to bring it back for year 2?
Connor Barwin: “Last year it was really successful. Most importantly, I think everybody had fun. Me and Chris had a good time, all the former players that showed up had a good time, and we were able to raise a good amount of money, so it was a no-brainer to do it again. For me, defensive line dinners during my 10-year career were one of the things I missed the most. … We had this idea to continue it, making a fundraiser that was inspired by those dinners that we all had as players. It made a lot of sense, and then open it up to people that care about the city and want to support what Make The World Better is doing in the city, and what Chris is doing in the city.”
» READ MORE: A film about Philly’s mightiest ‘Underdogs,’ brought to you by Jason Kelce and Connor Barwin
Postretirement, why do you think you’ve felt called to still be involved with the Eagles and with the Philadelphia community?
Long: “In the beginning, it was born out of necessity. Connor had a great career in Philly, an unbelievable career. My version of that was in St. Louis, and then they moved, so I really didn’t have a home base as a football player. When I got to Philly, I was just hoping for the best. The ride that we went on was incredible, and I was just really lucky to be a part of it. My parents went to Villanova, my wife’s from South Jersey, I know a lot of people in Philly but had never experienced it as a sports town, and I fell in love with the place, for sure. …”
Barwin: “ … I think it’s just an appreciation for the city, and how much they love sports. If you love sports, it’s a great place to live and work. It’s also a great place geographically, where it’s located in the Northeast corridor, makes a great place to live. It’s affordable, good restaurants, all those kinds of things. All the things that I enjoy now about living here, I enjoyed as a player too.”
Long: “If I could interject, Connor was like half the reason I came to Philly because … I got some intel from him. …”
You guys never played together in Philly. How did you become close friends?
Long: “I think pass rushers are generally pretty aware of each other, because we watch each other on film a lot and that sort of thing. The big thing is, after games, probably just running into each other over the years and appreciating each other’s game.”
Barwin: “And then I climbed Kilimanjaro with him!”
Long: “That was the crescendo. When you ask a stranger — well, not a stranger, but somebody you’ve never played with — to be like, ‘Hey man, will you come to East Africa with me and climb a mountain?’ … You get to know each other pretty damn well on the mountain. That trip, you really get to know everybody on the trip. From that point, it was like, ‘All right, we’re gonna do a lot of good work together.’”
» READ MORE: Chris Long’s legacy with Eagles was pranks, sacks and brotherly love | Marcus Hayes
Postretirement, you guys are both still very involved with football but in very different ways. Connor, you work for the Eagles, and Chris, you’re in podcasting. How has your relationship to the game changed in your new roles?
Barwin: “Obviously, what we’re doing is way different, but, and I don’t know how Chris sees it, but for me, I really have an appreciation and love for the NFL. It obviously has its issues, but I love being around the game, loved it as a player, and so I’m still involved in it one way, and then Chris is still really involved in it in a different way, but we both obviously had good careers, and have both stayed really close to it.”
Long: “It’s hard to give it up, for sure. I don’t know about you, C.B., but I remember it being kind of easy to give up, for me. I was excited to turn the page and do the next thing and get out before my body fell apart. It felt good to get out, but then over the next couple of years, you really start missing ball a little bit more. …”
How is it now to watch the Eagles as a former player?
Long: “It is a lot of fun. Staying involved as an Eagles fan, and with our podcast, we talk about the Eagles a lot. I try not to be too much of a homer, but I catch myself saying ‘we’ a lot, and people call me out on it. It’s just so easy to get excited about this team.
“I think, personally, the defense is probably better than our defense the year we won the Super Bowl. …”
On Monday night, former Eagles defensive ends Connor Barwin and Chris Long will host their second-annual Team Dinner charity event at Steak 48 in Center City. The event, which will feature athletes, celebrities, and more, will raise money for Barwin’s Make The World Better Foundation and the Chris Long Foundation.
Although the two were never teammates, they became friends and even climbed Mount Kilimanjaro together. Barwin spent four of his 10 NFL seasons with the Eagles (2013-2016) and Long spent two of 11 seasons (2017-18) with the team. He also won one of his two Super Bowls and was named the 2018 Walter Payton Man of the Year for his philanthropic work while a member of the Eagles.
While neither is from Philadelphia, both have remained close to the city after their playing careers ended. Barwin put down roots here and now works for the Eagles as the head of football development and strategy, while Long hosts a popular podcast (Green Light) and still refers to the Eagles as “we.” And both players’ foundations continue to do work in and around the city.
Ahead of Monday’s Team Dinner, Long and Barwin chatted with The Inquirer about their charity work, their friendship, and their shared love of Philadelphia and the Eagles …
This is the second year you guys have hosted the Team Dinner. How did it go last year? What made you decide to bring it back for year 2?
Connor Barwin: “Last year it was really successful. Most importantly, I think everybody had fun. Me and Chris had a good time, all the former players that showed up had a good time, and we were able to raise a good amount of money, so it was a no-brainer to do it again. For me, defensive line dinners during my 10-year career were one of the things I missed the most. Every Thursday night, I would go out with the defensive line, my position group, we would go out and hang out and talk and learn about each other, and all that kind of stuff. Those were a special time, a special thing to be a part of.
“Chris played D-line too, and I think he experienced the same thing. We had this idea to continue it, making a fundraiser that was inspired by those dinners that we all had as players. It made a lot of sense, and then open it up to people that care about the city and want to support what Make The World Better is doing in the city, and what Chris is doing in the city.”
» READ MORE: A film about Philly’s mightiest ‘Underdogs,’ brought to you by Jason Kelce and Connor Barwin
The event supports both of your foundations, the Make the World Better Foundation and the Chris Long Foundation. How did you choose which causes to support?
Barwin: “We are an active foundation. We’re not a granting foundation. This money is huge for us, and our programming and what we do. We have a staff, and we are always working with the community to rebuild and reimagine their public space. It’s a full time job, and this allows us to continue to do it, and allows us to do it, we think better than anybody else, with the community-forward first, and make sure that these public spaces are designed with them in mind.”
Long: “Years ago, I took an offseason trip to East Africa. I went to Tanzania to climb Kilimanjaro and do something a little different in the offseason. I had a great time, and ran into some people that introduced me to the water cause. I was at that point where we had been doing work in the community, but I’d never actually formed a foundation, so it was good timing. I just worked out when I came home and ran with the idea of, hey, maybe we can get football behind this very important cause, that I feel like, honestly, as a group in our sport, we really haven’t raised any awareness for or talked about at a high level. We started Water Boys, and our goal was to fund 32 large solar-powered wells, but we surpassed that goal. We then moved to a people-served goal, which is a million people served. We’re over halfway there, and we’ve been doing a lot of large solar-powered wells in East Africa. We also do some domestic work as well with water.
“The educational aspect of it was born from a sense of, listen, we do a lot abroad. That’s just the way things have worked out. I have no problem working internationally, primarily, but I do think I have a responsibility to help my community. What’s the most pragmatic way to complement the work we’re doing around the world here domestically? I thought that was education and equity and just took it from there. We’ve been going a few years now with it, and then we do these EdZone closets [of basic necessities] in Charlottesville, and launching in Philly and working in St. Louis. There’s a lot of work to do in that sector, and we just plan on continuing to put our heads down.”
Postretirement, why do you think you’ve felt called to still be involved with the Eagles and with the Philadelphia community?
Long: “In the beginning, it was born out of necessity. Connor had a great career in Philly, an unbelievable career. My version of that was in St. Louis, and then they moved, so I really didn’t have a home base as a football player. When I got to Philly, I was just hoping for the best. The ride that we went on was incredible, and I was just really lucky to be a part of it.
“My parents went to Villanova, my wife’s from South Jersey, I know a lot of people in Philly but had never experienced it as a sports town, and I fell in love with the place, for sure. It’s just easy to get back to, the fans are second to none, and I just had so much fun there. It just was going to be home. You could just tell it was home away from home. Home for me is back home in Virginia, but if there was ever a big city that I could live in, it would be Philadelphia. I just love the place.”
Connor, how do you feel like your relationship with the city has changed now that you’re no longer a player and work for the team?
Barwin: “I don’t think it’s changed that much, honestly. I played here for four years, and it was a great four years, and it’s where I laid down roots with my family. I think it’s a great organization. It’s a great city. It’s a great place to work as a player. It’s a great place to work as a non-player. We put our roots down here when I was playing here. I started playing in 2013, when I left to go play, ironically, with the Rams, when Chris came here, and then played in New York, and that was great, but I always knew that we were going to come back to Philly.
“I think it’s just an appreciation for the city, and how much they love sports. If you love sports, it’s a great place to live and work. It’s also a great place geographically, where it’s located in the Northeast corridor, makes a great place to live. It’s affordable, good restaurants, all those kinds of things. All the things that I enjoy now about living here, I enjoyed as a player too.”
Long: “If I could interject, Connor was like half the reason I came to Philly because, and it was ironic that we were both playing for our old franchises, like we were crossing paths on the way to our new destinations. He had some intel for me. I got some intel from him. Obviously, the team had moved to L.A., but I knew a lot of the people.
“Connor’s the best and honestly, walking into the Philly situation, he’s what you want. He’s the blueprint for a Philly athlete. I certainly didn’t try to emulate him, but for me, it was clear to see that if you bust your [butt] on the field and do the work off the field, which Connor did, the fans are really going to receive you well. I was just really inspired by what Connor did, and then also got some real intel from him on the way.”
» READ MORE: Former Eagles star Connor Barwin leaves Wharton with an MBA and a stake in an Italian basketball team
Barwin: “Who knows what would have happened? I think Chris was going to come to Philly anyway, but as Chris was talking about, the reality is we sort of knew each other. It is kind of crazy. He called me, he was like, ‘What do you know? How is it there?’ I gave him the pitch, exactly what I just told you, it’s a great place to live, the NFC East is a great division to play in, so on and so forth. Obviously, Chris came and played awesome and helped the team go to a Super Bowl. It was obviously really special, and worked out really, really well.”
You guys never played together in Philly. How did you become close friends?
Long: “I think pass rushers are generally pretty aware of each other, because we watch each other on film a lot and that sort of thing. The big thing is, after games, probably just running into each other over the years and appreciating each other’s game.”
Barwin: “And then I climbed Kilimanjaro with him!”
Long: “That was the crescendo. When you ask a stranger — well, not a stranger, but somebody you’ve never played with — to be like, ‘Hey man, will you come to East Africa with me and climb a mountain?’ I think at that point, you were still an active player, Connor, and we don’t get a lot of active dudes that are willing to go do that.”
Barwin: “I think I was the first active player to do it. I was still playing, but as Chris said, we sort of knew each other, had lots of mutual respect playing the same position. You get to know each other and respect each other from afar, and then we got to know each other after we talked about the Eagles-Rams thing. That worked well, I think, for everybody, yeah. Now, I’m still here, Chris, his family’s from here, he still has had a huge impact on the city off the field and on the field, winning that Super Bowl. Me being back here now, we got to know each other even more.”
Long: “You get to know each other pretty damn well on the mountain. That trip, you really get to know everybody on the trip. From that point, it was like, ‘All right, we’re gonna do a lot of good work together.’”
Why did you ask him to climb Kilimanjaro with you?
Long: “He’s in shape, and he seems kind of crazy in a way, where he wants to do stuff like that, where he’s like me. When I’m looking at people to proposition with doing this, it’s not just anybody. Connor is a high motor guy. He’s wire to wire on the field. He’s always been a worker. I just felt like, I think that guy could walk a long distance up a mountain, so I just approached him.”
Barwin: “I like people who are doing interesting stuff, and Chris is always doing interesting stuff. He asked me, I was like, this sounds like a really interesting, fun thing to do. It was a great experience, but unlike Chris, I’m one and done. I can’t do it seven or eight times.”
Long: “I think it’s harder to climb every time, because the novelty wears off. Connor is good as anybody that we’ve had, and we had a great group that year. We’ve had a lot of friends and former players do the [Kilimanjaro] hike, and the group chat’s still firing off years later from each group. One of the guys actually just asked me, I don’t know if I told you this, C.B., but one of the guys asked me to jump on D-Day in Normandy. Crazy stuff happens out of that climb. You make friends that just become lifelong buddies. And then also, we can compare notes and support each other’s foundations.
“If we hadn’t climbed, I don’t know if we’d be doing this dinner together, so it was just, what are the chances? It was awesome.”
» READ MORE: Chris Long’s legacy with Eagles was pranks, sacks and brotherly love | Marcus Hayes
Postretirement, you guys are both still very involved with football but in very different ways. Connor, you work for the Eagles, and Chris, you’re in podcasting. How has your relationship to the game changed in your new roles?
Barwin: “Obviously, what we’re doing is way different, but, and I don’t know how Chris sees it, but for me, I really have an appreciation and love for the NFL. It obviously has its issues, but I love being around the game, loved it as a player, and so I’m still involved in it one way, and then Chris is still really involved in it in a different way, but we both obviously had good careers, and have both stayed really close to it.”
Long: “It’s hard to give it up, for sure. I don’t know about you, C.B., but I remember it being kind of easy to give up, for me. I was excited to turn the page and do the next thing and get out before my body fell apart. It felt good to get out, but then over the next couple of years, you really start missing ball a little bit more.
“What I’m doing has certainly helped me stay involved in the game. I know what Connor is doing. He’s grinding, like, he’s in the building every day. I don’t — maybe you’re not in the building every day, maybe your work schedule is actually better than I think, Connor, but we talk a lot, honestly. We’ll just text randomly about football stuff and it’s pretty cool. I’m doing a podcast, Connor’s still in it, which is incredible. I love just catching up with him and seeing what he’s up to, because the organization’s second to none, and to think, for a former player who was also a legend in Philly, to come get a job and do really well at it, that’s so damn cool. It’s pretty awesome.”
Barwin: “I think it’s fun. I’m actually watching film while we’re doing this, it’s from practice. I think it’s fun what we’re both doing. I think it gives me a new perspective, a different perspective, from when I was playing. I love talking to Chris because he has a different perspective from when he was playing, and that’s the media lens. I’m not getting that right now. We’re all thinking about it — he thinks about it how I [think about it], and I try to think about how he does. But it’s still different when we talk about it, which is fun to see how he’s seeing it, and I’m sure it’s interesting for him to see how we see it inside. Those things are fun, to have those relationships and talk about it.”
Long: “It’s totally different. The lens is different. It’s nice having friends that visit, so I can head up and be like, ‘Hey, have I lost my mind on this? Am I not seeing it clearly?’ With Eagle stuff, but just in general, sometimes I’m like, I don’t want to be unfair, or am I off my rocker on this take? I think it helps to — not only just Connor, but I’ve got a bunch of friends that still work in the league, because when you’re in the media, it’s easy to lose touch of being a player and what it means, and sometimes you can be too critical or miss the point, so it’s really nice to have friends that are still in it.
How is it now to watch the Eagles as a former player?
Long: “It is a lot of fun. Staying involved as an Eagles fan, and with our podcast, we talk about the Eagles a lot. I try not to be too much of a homer, but I catch myself saying ‘we’ a lot, and people call me out on it. It’s just so easy to get excited about this team.
“I think, personally, the defense is probably better than our defense the year we won the Super Bowl. I always say, ‘Hey, they’ve got to go out and do it in the playoffs,’ but I just have so much fun watching this group. I get to be a fan — you know? — an Eagles fan, which is kind of cool. Seeing Saquon [Barkley] come down, the vibes are good, everybody’s playing unselfish, you can see the receivers blocking for him. I still see Lane [Johnson] a good bit when I come into town to do Inside the NFL, so I still see the guys.
“It’s a unique experience to be a part of a Super Bowl team, for sure, and then seeing some of the same guys being out there still and doing it at a high level — I’m kind of a mix of a fan and a friend, and a podcaster trying to stay neutral, but people call me a homer all the time. I have a hard time.”