SUPER Bowl champion Chris Long has revealed his parents thought he was "soft" growing up.
But the former New England Patriots star proved his dad Howie wrong by having an illustrious 11-year career in the NFL.
The defensive end won two Super Bowls in his career – one more than his dad Howie, a Hall of Fame player with the Oakland Raiders.
But he did not initially take to football as a youngster.
“They just figured because I was soft, if you will, that they’d send me out to football practice and I’d come back and be like, ‘the hell with this'," Chris told the Patriot Ledger.
“But, it backfired."
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Howie believes that Chris persisted in the game despite multiple setbacks because of his deep inner strength.
Chris had a dismal start to his NFL career, having eight consecutive losing seasons with the St. Louis Rams.
But his life and career changed when he moved to the Patriots in 2016, helping the team win Super Bowl LI.
“At the end of the day, your DNA is what your DNA is,” the Fox NFL broadcaster added.
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“Chris is someone who, the day he committed to it in high school, he’s 110%, all the time.
"You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who’s worked harder to get to this point and then through more throughout the first eight years of his career.”
Howie also says watching Chris win a Super Bowl was a greater feeling than winning the NFL title game himself.
The defensive lineman spent the entirety of his career with the Raiders franchise, winning Super Bowl XVIII in the 1983 season.
"I was struck by the magnitude of the game again when my son Chris’s New England Patriots played the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI," Howie told Hemispheres magazine.
"Going into the game, I didn’t view it any differently from the Super Bowls I’d broadcasted before.
"But the second I walked into NRG Stadium on February 5, 2017, it hit me: My son is playing in the Super Bowl."
Howie assumed the worst when the Falcons went ahead 28-3 in the third quarter.
But when Tom Brady inspired an amazing comeback to win the game 34-28, he could not contain his joy.
Fox NFL star Howie Long claims Rob Gronkowski ‘had no idea’ who special guest was at NFC Championship Game"The Falcons led the Patriots 21–3 at halftime," Howie added.
"Usher was in the green room, wearing Falcons gear and jumping up and down.
"I was quiet, sitting against the wall by myself. I was like a duck under water.
"The surface was calm, but beneath, I was churning. I felt like the worst father ever....
"The Patriots completed a remarkable comeback and won in overtime, 34–28.
"The enjoyment I took in seeing Chris win Super Bowl LI far exceeded the enjoyment I had in winning my own ring for the Raiders.
"It was like watching your son excel in Little League – just in front of a much larger audience."
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At the time, Howie and Chris became just the seventh father-son combination to each win a Super Bowl.
Chris went on to win another Super Bowl with the Philadelphia Eagles the following season before retiring in 2019.
Keep up to date with The U.S. Sun for all the latest on the Super Bowl. You can purchase tickets here and sign up to watch the game on NFL+ here or Paramount+ here. You can also find the best betting odds here.
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