New England Patriots defensive end Chris Long is one of six Super Bowl LI champs who aren’t planning to make the traditional visit to the White House to meet President Trump — and he’s not mincing his words as to why.
The four-time Pro Baller tackled the topic head-on Thursday night, blitzing critics who have been attacking him on social media since he made his decision public shortly after the Patriots’ historic comeback win in Houston on Feb. 5.
“Heard it all this week … if you don’t want to hear about some of the dumb s— I’ve heard … mute away, but it’s good. Rapid fire time, yeah?” he tweeted to one troll on Thursday.
“‘You just wanna be a cool lib,’” one user deducted, to which the heavily-tattooed defensive player responded: “As a football player, liberals thought I was a living, breathing piece of steak before I agreed with them.”
“‘Respect the office’ Ok birther theory guy,” he told another.
“‘Stick to football’ you don’t look like a state senator yourself there bud,” he continued.
When a tweeter got personal, Long fought back even harder: “”You hate the troops’ The secondary focus of my foundation (out of two causes) is veteran support. Do your research. Also, not relatable.”
Long is referring to the Water Boys program, where he’s teaming up with other professional athletes and veterans to bring clean, safe and sustainable water to Eastern Africa by conquering Mount Kilimanjaro.
“‘I hope they cut you’ I’m a free agent,” he responded to one user who needs to check his football facts. After his performance in the 2016 season, we’re pretty sure Long will be returning to New England later this year.
Like a perfectly orchestrated Bill Belichick playbook, Long took down each of his detractors as if they were Atlanta Falcons receivers with burn after burn.
After being drafted by the St. Louis Rams in 2008 with the second overall pick in 2008, Long was released in February 2016 and picked up by New England on a one-year, $2 million deal. He went on to help Tom Brady’s team to a 14-2 regular season and take home the Lombardi Trophy for the fifth time.
While non-football fans might not be familiar with the 31 year-old from Santa Monica, California, Long has been involved in the NFL all his life. His father is Hall of Famer Howie Long, who spent 13 years with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders, won one Super Bowl and is now a studio analyst at Fox Sports — where he got to commentate on his son winning his first Super Bowl ring two weeks ago.
Devin McCourty and Martellus Bennett are among the other Patriots players declining Donald Trump’s invite.
See Long’s tweets and his critics below.
https://twitter.com/JOEL9ONE/status/832431960752529409
https://twitter.com/JOEL9ONE/status/832432096413118464
https://twitter.com/JOEL9ONE/status/832432156911796224
https://twitter.com/JOEL9ONE/status/832432348415348736
https://twitter.com/JOEL9ONE/status/832432797872750594
https://twitter.com/JOEL9ONE/status/832432938096668673
https://twitter.com/JOEL9ONE/status/832433778912002050
https://twitter.com/JOEL9ONE/status/832434418379784193
https://twitter.com/JOEL9ONE/status/832434841157251073
https://twitter.com/JOEL9ONE/status/832621834180898816
https://twitter.com/JOEL9ONE/status/832632349242322944
https://twitter.com/JOEL9ONE/status/832648875529809922
https://twitter.com/JOEL9ONE/status/832420708194070530
And finally, this is what Long really wants you to be talking to him about.
Team up with #NFL players and military #veterans bringing #CleanWater to communities in East Africa! https://t.co/tVkvlaBH5p #ConquerKili pic.twitter.com/iizXiuPyzS
— Waterboys.org (@WaterboysORG) February 17, 2017