Chris Long’s Next Challenge: Climbing Kilimanjaro for a Water Charity

What is two-time Super Bowl champion Chris Long doing to celebrate his big win? Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, of course! Sixteen days after winner Super Bowl 52 with the Philadelphia Eagles, the 32-year-old defensive end is heading to Africa to raise money to build wells in drought-stricken Africa. Long will be joined by 11 current and former NFL players and U.S. military veterans. It should take them about six days to climb it and then a few more days to come back down. Long’s co-captain on the “Conquering Kili” trip, former U.S. Army Green Beret Nate Boyer, will join Long in leading a group of 12 (plus a video crew) on the climb. Other NFL stars joining the team are Rams linebacker Connor Barwin and three retired NFL players: quarterback Vince Young, running back Steven Jackson and tight end Tom Santi. Plus, four retired military vets — two Marine, one Navy, one Army — will be on the climb. This will be Long’s third trip up the mountain. He went once late in his Ram years and then he went last year after he was part of the Patriots’ Super Bowl win.

“The awareness for our cause, clean water in East Africa … this is our best platform. The world water crisis is huge, and it means so much to me that we’ve been able to raise enough money to build 32 wells in such desperate areas. We haven’t set a monetary goal this year, but if we could raise enough money for three or four wells [at $40,000 per well], that’s going to help so many people,” he said, according to Sports Illustrated.