Chris Long: ‘I just played on the toughest team of all time'

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Chris Long said he’s never run on the field after a victory before, so he was a little unsure of the drill at the end of Super Bowl LI.

He just followed his Patriots teammates, who by now are used to it.

“…And we’re looking at each other, and everybody’s like, ‘Yeah!’ with that ‘you know what to do’ look. And I’m like, ‘No, I don’t know what to do. I’ve never run onto the field in excitement before in my life.’ “ Long said Friday on the “Pardon My Take” podcast as he recalled James White scoring the touchdown that capped the Pats' epic comeback from a 31-point deficit to win the franchise's fifth title in the first overtime game in Super Bowl history.  “You could easily get hurt in this celebration. People are rolling around on the field. Man, it was like shock. It was relief, it was shock...”

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Long never won more than seven games in a season in his previous seven years with the St. Louis Rams. So, he’s not really used to victory celebrations. 

He said it was safety Duron Harmon who walked into the locker room at halftime and told the Patriots, “We’re about to make the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history.”

“And,” Long said, “I was just like, ‘Dude, can we get a stop? Can we just do one good thing, maybe put one foot in front of the other?’

“But if it wasn’t for guys like Duron that had no doubt, you know, I’m not used to this winning thing. Maybe the guys that have been around there a while, they were just like, ‘Well, [stuff] will just work out.’ I didn’t have that instinct, for whatever reason. But there wasn’t a big speech; we just went back out and did it.”

Long said, “I really do think on the toughest team of all time,” which is saying a lot coming from a defensive lineman who as a kid saw his father win Super Bowls and become a Hall of Famer playing the same position with the Raiders. 

Long said in the end it comes down to coaching.

“I think honestly, when you work that hard at the details all year long and you’re just ready for whatever … Bill [Belichick] does a great job of throwing curveballs at us. He did all year. Everything he does is by design. I do think he’s the greatest coach of all time,” Long said. “Any curveball you get on Super Bowl Sunday, you might think the hill is too steep, but guys were just conditioned to be able to go out there, hit the curveball, keep rolling. We got a break or two, that’s all it took, and then you can feel once you get that break or two, the momentum it turns into like, ‘Oh [crap]’ on the other sideline. And on our sideline, we’re trying to go win a football game. You know what I mean? It turned fast. But I do think it’s because we’re mentally very tough.”


 

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