Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Chris Long, son of Howie Long, spent the first eight years of his NFL career with the St. Louis Rams, failing to make the postseason in any of those seasons. After dealing with injuries in his last two years with the Rams, Long contemplated retirement going into the 2018 season.

“It was very possible,” Long acknowledged in an interview at the Eagles’ training facility that will air Super Sunday on NFL Network’s “GameDay Morning.” “I knew [getting released] was coming — the last month or two of the season, I moved into the Ritz-Carlton. … I figured maybe this was it, and I probably needed to put the place up.”

“I had no hard feelings about it, and I just started to think about what was next. I didn’t know if I was probably too burned out to put all the energy that needs to be put into it, and I wasn’t sure where my body was, so I took a little while and figured out that maybe I want to keep going.”

After receiving a call from New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who expressed interest in bringing him to New England Long decided to put off retirement.

Long played in his first career playoff game with the Patriots and won his first Super Bowl ring as well. After the season, Long decided to take another chance and signed with the Philadelphia Eagles instead of returning to the Patriots, and now finds himself with a chance to win another Super Bowl ring, but this time, it will be against his old teammates. The current Super Bowl online betting line at MyBookie.ag has the Patriots favored by 4 and a half points over the Eagles.

“I’m proud of the way I’ve been able to play this year,” Long said. “I feel like I’m back to being who I was, and it’s fun to be on a good team. I’m always trying to play for respect. I don’t play the game for much else.”