Chris Long Tackles Water Insecurity and Educational Equity
Photos courtesy of the Chris Long Foundation
If Chris Long’s story had ended with his retirement from the NFL in 2018,
it would still be remarkable on its own. During a distinguished 11-year NFL career, Long played for the St. Louis Rams, New England Patriots, and Philadelphia Eagles. He won consecutive Super Bowls with the Patriots and Eagles, becoming one of the few players to achieve this feat with different teams. In his final year in the league, he was recognized for his philanthropy with the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award.
But Long’s most meaningful legacy has nothing to do with football. Since stepping away from the game, he has committed himself to taking on the critical challenges of clean water access and educational equity.
The son of NFL Hall of Famer Howie Long, Chris was never content to let football define him. Even during his playing days, he quietly supported various causes while avoiding publicity. “I didn’t want to be the guy doing things just for credit,” he recalls. “But eventually, I realized that was short-sighted. If you really want to make an impact, you have to bring people along with you.”
Growing Up in Charlottesville
Long’s deep sense of responsibility was shaped well before his NFL career. Born in Santa Monica, California, he moved to Charlottesville with his family when he was eight years old. It wasn’t an easy move, but Charlottesville quickly became home. “I was bummed when we moved,” he says. “Leaving friends at that age is tough, but looking back, I can’t imagine a better place to grow up. I got lucky.”
He attended St. Anne’s-Belfield School, where he excelled in football, basketball, and lacrosse, surrounded by a community that emphasized service and integrity. His parents, Howie and Diane Long, set the example early on. “My parents gave me a blueprint for how to treat people with respect and dignity,” he says. “My mom spent so much time working with the Boys & Girls Club, not just organizing but being there with the kids, making sure they felt seen and valued. My dad, despite his career in the public eye, always stressed that real character is what you do when no one is watching. I always marveled at how committed they were to making the world a better place through different avenues.”
Coaches and mentors in Charlottesville also played a pivotal role in shaping his character. “Coaches like John Blake, Dave Riddick, and Sammy Beale—those guys were legends around here,” he recalls. “They weren’t just teaching us about sports, they were teaching us about life. You have to remember where you came from because a lot of people helped you get there.”
Choosing to stay close to home for college, Long played football at the University of Virginia, where he further developed his identity beyond the game. “Playing football at UVA keeps you grounded,” he says. “It’s not like going to Alabama or LSU, where you’re the hottest ticket in town. At UVA, you’re still expected to be a student, to be a citizen. That kept me humble and well-rounded, and helped me figure out who I was outside of football.”
During his first year at UVA, he also met Meg O’Malley, a fellow student and a standout lacrosse player. Nine years after they met, the couple got married in Charlottesville in 2013.
While he was expanding his horizons off the field, he dominated play on it. During his senior year at UVA in 2007, he was named a unanimous First-Team All-American, ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and won the Ted Hendricks Award as the nation’s top defensive end, culminating in his jersey being retired.
Even while focusing on his pro football career, he remained connected to the Charlottesville community. He spent summers hiking in Sugar Hollow, tubing on the James River, and catching concerts around town. “This place shaped me,” he says. “When I played in the NFL, I couldn’t wait to get back home every chance I got.”
A Life-Changing Trip
Long’s philanthropic journey took shape in an unexpected way when, in 2013, a trip to Tanzania altered his worldview. He traveled there to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, but it was what he saw on the ground that stuck with him. “I hadn’t been outside the country much, so it was eye-opening,” Long says. “I saw communities struggling with something so basic: access to clean water. And I realized that with the platform I had, I could help change that.”
The experience was deeply emotional for Long. “I remember standing there, watching a little kid drink from a filthy water source, and it just floored me,” he says. “It was one of those moments where you realize just how unfair the world can be, and it lit a fire in me to do something about it.”
The stakes couldn’t be higher. Water-related diseases are a major global health concern, causing nearly one in five deaths of children under five.
The numbers are staggering, but seeing the reality up close brings it home—something Meg witnessed while accompanying Chris on a follow-up trip to Africa. “The first time I saw a well being drilled and hitting water, it was an unforgettable moment,” she says. “You can give to a cause by writing a check, but seeing it happen made it feel so much more real. I knew then that this was something Chris wasn’t just supporting—he was going to build his life around it.”
Back home, he wrestled with how to turn his passion into something tangible. Long had already supported local initiatives in St. Louis and Charlottesville, but he wanted to create something lasting. In 2015, he launched the Chris Long Foundation, with a mission to provide clean water and create equal opportunities in education.
The Foundation’s flagship initiative, Waterboys, aimed to fund 32 wells in Tanzania—one per NFL team. “I figured, if we could get one well per team, that would be a good start,” he says. But fundraising wasn’t as easy as he expected. “I thought people would immediately see how urgent the problem was. But it took time. People have different causes they care about,
and it was my job to make them care about this one.”
He began bringing teammates and donors to Tanzania, letting them witness firsthand what a lack of clean water meant for these communities. “We’d take them to a village without clean water,” he says. “Then we’d visit a site where we had built a well a few years ago. The difference was night and day. Suddenly, you see a thriving community, kids in school, crops growing. Water doesn’t just improve health—it changes everything.”
His ability to connect with people has been a driving force behind his Foundation’s success. “Chris is just a genuine person,” says Meg. “People believe in him because his passion for the work is real. He’s invested in it emotionally, not just financially. That’s why he’s able to galvanize so many people who may never see the impact firsthand but trust that it’s there.”
Recognizing the power of teamwork beyond the football field, Long recruited other athletes to join the cause. “I knew that if I could get other guys to see what I saw, they’d want to help,” he says. “It started small—one player per team—but over time, more and more athletes stepped up. The more people we bring in, the more lives we change.”
That effort has paid off in a big way. To date, the Foundation has provided clean water to more than 580,000 people in East Africa and the United States, with a goal of reaching one million individuals.
Meg has also witnessed firsthand how Waterboys can change lives, particularly for women and girls. “Before these wells were built, women and young girls were walking miles every day just to get water, often at great personal risk,” she says. “We’ve visited villages where, because of clean water access, girls are now in school, and women are starting businesses—things they simply couldn’t do before because their entire day revolved around finding water. That’s a big part of what makes this work so important.”
Creating Change Back Home
As Waterboys expanded its reach internationally, Chris recognized that water insecurity wasn’t just an issue abroad—it was also a serious problem in the United States. This realization led to the creation of Hometown H2O, an initiative dedicated to addressing domestic water access issues. Through Hometown H2O, the Foundation helps install wells for families in need and places water-bottle filling stations in schools to ensure children have reliable access to clean drinking water.
“Hometown H2O is about making sure communities here at home aren’t forgotten,” Long says. “We’ve worked to bring clean water to thousands of people abroad, but we also have families in the United States without access to safe water. That’s unacceptable.”
While Waterboys flourished, he turned his attention to another cause close to his heart—education. In 2017, he made headlines by donating his entire NFL salary to educational initiatives. “That was a crazy year. I was playing for the Eagles, and Charlottesville was in the news for all the wrong reasons,” he says, referencing the white nationalist rally that devastated his hometown. “I felt like I needed to do something. I think the quickest way that we can level the playing field, as we do with water internationally, is with educational equity.”
Long had funded scholarships and literacy programs with his Eagles paychecks, but he wanted to do more. He launched the EdZone initiative, focused on providing kids in Charlottesville and Philadelphia with the basics they need to succeed—books, school supplies, clothing, and hygiene products.
He often explains the EdZone mission using a football analogy: “If I had gone into an NFL game without my helmet and shoulder pads, it would have been impossible to compete. Yet, we expect kids to succeed in school without the essential tools they need.”
Meg sees the challenge from another perspective. “Kids struggle with confidence even when they have everything,” she says. “Imagine how much harder it is when they don’t. If we can remove just one stressor—like having clean clothes or basic hygiene products—then we’re giving them a better shot at feeling safe and comfortable in school.”
Now settled in Charlottesville with a family that has grown to include sons Waylon and Luke, and daughter June, Long also sees the continued expansion of his Foundation, with new projects on the horizon. For him, success is measured in lives changed, not numbers.
“One night, on a Kilimanjaro climb, a local porter asked me why we were there. When I explained, he broke down crying,” he recalls. “That was the greatest validation I could ever get. This work matters. And as long as I can, I’m going to keep doing it.”