PHILADELPHIA -- Eagles defensive end Chris Long had a surprise waiting for him on his phone when he got off the practice field Friday afternoon.

"Nicole Woodie, who runs my foundation, was like, 'It looks like the Obama Foundation picked up some of the work we've been doing. That's pretty cool.' I was like, 'Oh, that is cool.' And then I opened my Twitter," said Long with a smile, "and I saw the tweet."

The tweet was from former president of the United States Barack Obama, who was highlighting different charitable efforts in 2017, including Long's decision to donate his entire salary to education in his hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia.

“As we count down to the new year, we get to reflect and prepare for what’s ahead. For all the bad news that seemed to dominate our collective consciousness, there are countless stories from this year that remind us what's best about America,” Obama wrote on Twitter.

“Chris Long gave his paychecks from the first six games of the NFL season to fund scholarships in Charlottesville, VA. He wanted to do more, so he decided to give away an entire season’s salary. That’s a story from 2017.”

Long said it was "up there" in terms of star-struck moments for the 10-year NFL veteran.

"It was just an honor. It is someone who I respect and somebody who I think handled being the face of our nation with class," he said. "So it was cool."

Long initially donated his first six game checks to provide scholarships for students in Charlottesville. In October, he decided to commit the rest of his salary to the cause to launch the Pledge 10 for Tomorrow campaign, encouraging others to make donations to improve equal education opportunities. Long said they have received close to $900,000 in matches to this point.

With Obama's backing, there's a good chance that figure will go up even further.

"Not only do I respect him but he's has so much pull and so much of a following, the leader of the free world until a year ago and did it for eight years," said Long. "So when he tweets something about what we've been able to try and accomplish off the field, it's gratifying and means we're doing some good things and hopefully can just keep spreading the word."