Chris Long Brings NFL Stars to Charlottesville for Waterboys Charity Challenge

Charlottesville has always been a special place for Chris Long.

From spending the second half of his childhood in Charlottesville after the Long family moved from Los Angeles in the mid 90s, to developing into a standout football player at St. Anne's-Belfield and becoming a superstar defensive end at the University of Virginia, and then, after closing the chapter on an 11-year NFL career in which he won two Super Bowls, returning to Charlottesville for what has so far been the opposite of a lazy retirement, this place carries profound significance for Chris Long.

But Charlottesville has taken on a new meaning for Long in the last few years, serving as the hub for an annual charity event to spearhead the fundraising and awareness efforts of the Waterboys, an initiative of the Chris Long Foundation which is fighting the global water crisis by funding the construction of clean and sustainable water wells in places particularly impacted by the clean water crisis, both in East Africa and in the United States.

Last week's third annual Waterboys Charity Challenge at the Birdwood Golf Course at Boar's Head in Charlottesville can trace its roots back to a trip Long took to Tanzania in 2013 to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

"I kind of got lucky, took a trip on a whim over to Tanzania to climb Kilimanjaro... I kind of fell in love with the place and came to realize a lot of the differences in how life is lived there," Long said. "And one of the biggest inconveniences - and really inconveniences is too gentle of a word - like every day is a struggle to get water in Tanzania and a lot of places in sub-Saharan Africa. And seeing that up close, I thought we could occupy a niche in sports, to rally behind this cause, which is a really important cause, but in the United States, not one that people really pay attention to."

A couple of years later, Waterboys was started with the goal of funding 32 water wells for 32 NFL teams. That benchmark was surpassed and the project has since adopted a new goal: to bring clean water to a million people in need, with success meaning life-changing impacts on countless communities around the world.

"Pragmatically for me, the reason that it's so important is it's so tangible. Number one, your donors can see where their money is going. They know exactly how many people they are going to help," said Long. "But it's multifaceted. It's not just keeping kids from getting sick and dying. It's also improving agriculture. It's improving school attendance. Women and girls are the ones tasked with most of this burden. So it takes the burden off of them so they can leave."

The third annual Waterboys Charity Challenge brought dozens of NFL players and personalities to Charlottesville, as well as several local and national sponsors and donors all collaborating to work towards the single goal of bringing clean water to underprivileged communities. Long hopes that the proceeds from the two-day event, which included a silent auction, a concert and an outdoor party on Thursday night and a golf tournament at the Birdwood Golf Club on Friday, will ultimately produce clean water for thousands of people and bring more attention to the clean water crisis.

"There are so many ways that a community improves when you give the gift of clean water and for us, large solar-powered sustainable wells that last a generation and can serve like 5,000-7,000 people," said Long. "That's what's going on here. We probably were able to provide 15,000 or 20,000 people with water, hopefully, at the end of this event. And that's something happening here, but it's helping somebody all the way across the world. I think it's a special thing. So, I love water. It gives people hope. It gives people their health and it can improve a community holistically."

Co-hosting this year's Waterboys Charity Challenge along with Chris Long was former Eagles teammate, seven-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl Champion Jason Kelce. The impressive list of attendees at the event also included former NFL stars and UVA football alums James Farrior, Pat Kerney, Terry Kirby, Ray Roberts, and Jamie Sharper as well as other former NFL players like Ryan Clark, Beau Allen, LeGarrette Blount, Torrey Smith, Brent Celek and others. The significance isn't lost on Long that all of these notable people took time out of their schedules to to attend this charity event in Charlottesville.

"It means a lot to me to have the donors here, but also my friends and people that could be any number of places. You know, a Jason Kelce, for instance, who has everything in the world going on, to come down here? I mean, he's doing it because [he's] my friend, but he also believes in the mission," Long said. "I think there's a lot of guys that came out here and it really blew me away with them making it happen. Like Ryan Clark came in yesterday for just the day. He has his son's spring game at Notre Dame today. That to me is just a statement by people like Ryan or Jason that this is important work and they're willing to pick up everything and just do it in the middle of their busy schedules."

Of course, it all comes back to Charlottesville, which fittingly hosts the annual event. It was at a dinner on the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville that the Waterboys initiative was officially launched and debuted to the public nearly a decade ago. Long expressed immense gratitude for the city and community of Charlottesville for its continued support of this important cause since the very beginning.

"We had our first dinner in 2015 on the mall and I'll never forget the way this community rallied around the brand new cause, outside the box," Long recalled. "And to see those same faces every year, I mean, that's what you need. You need a base and the backbone for us has been Charlottesville, make no mistake about it. Even with all the cities I played in, if we didn't have Charlottesville, we wouldn't be able to stand on two legs."

For more information on how to help the Waterboys achieve their goal of bringing clean water to a million people, see waterboys.org.

Cover photo courtesy of Maciek Glac Photography