University of Virginia alumnus Chris Long has two Super Bowl rings to show for his 11 seasons in the NFL, winning with both the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles. He chalks up a lot of that success to advice his father gave him when he was young.

“Dad’s message to me (was), ‘Whatever you do, you’re going to do it 1,000%,’ which is not a real number. But you know, whether it’s you’re going to be a doctor, you’re going to be the most committed, most hard-working doctor in America. If you’re going to be a football player, you’re going to do it. Bring your passion, bring your hard hat.”

That’s advice the former UVA football standout brought with him to the University, he told President Jim Ryan during the latest episode of his “Inside UVA” podcast. And it’s advice Long still follows while he balances his own podcast, philanthropy and family life.

A common misconception, he said, was that talking about sports on a podcast comes easy to a former professional player. But “it also takes a lot of work on the back end for me to keep up with the game. That’s something, for me, that’s made this job really rewarding, because I need to work. I’m that type of person.”

Long hosts the “Green Light” podcast, where he talks NFL and sports with close friends, including fellow alum and good friend Macon Gunter, who now sells real estate in Charlottesville, and Nate Collins, who played football with Long at UVA.

“That’s my favorite thing to listen to, is when you got a big group of guys or athletes that are talking about their sport. It encourages a casual, kind of … talk,” Long said.

Long, who lives in Charlottesville with his family, has been an active member of the community for years. During the pandemic, he helped source meals from local restaurants for community members experiencing food insecurity through Grub4Good.

Through the Chris Long Foundation, he works to address education and health inequities and increase access to clean water and education locally and globally.

To learn more about Long’s work and the time he interviewed Matthew McConnaughey, listen to the season three finale of “Inside UVA,” found on most podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts.