It came as no surprise Tuesday night when Chris Long confirmed via Twitter that he had agreed to a deal with the Patriots.
He's tweeted about 21,000 times (a few thousand more than the number of tweets sent out by the account shared by Patriots safety Devin McCourty and his brother Jason), and his first following ESPN's report that he'd be headed to New England read, "This is an opportunity and I am so thankful!!! Whatever it takes!!! See you soon Boston. GO PATS."
When it comes to NFL players, Long's thoughts have been among the most accessible (and entertaining) on the Internet. Not only is he active on Twitter, but he's also been a regular contributor for The Players' Tribune.
On Twitter, where his handle is @JOEL9ONE, he'll talk politics, he'll crack jokes, he'll raise awareness for The Waterboys Initiative, which raises money to help supply water to people in sub-Saharan Africa, he'll share his life's most embarrassing moments, and he's not afraid to use emoticons.
On The Players' Tribune, he's shared photos from his childhood and made it clear that he doesn't believe defensive linemen should be counting their pass breakups. The Players' Tribune article that likely garnered the most attention in the New England area, though, was the one Long chipped in before Super Bowl XLIX that discussed Deflategate.
At that point, the Wells Report had not yet been released, and Tom Brady's punishment had not been handed down. Well before Exponent's findings were made public or Patriots fans came to know Judge Richard Berman, Long had an eminently sane take on -- and found some humor in -- how much had been made over what was allegedly the difference of a few pounds per square inch.
And that was over a year ago.
Maybe, now that he's Brady's teammate, Long will update his Deflategate thoughts on Twitter. Maybe he won't. Either way, whatever he does publish on there, it's a safe bet his new coach will have a tough time finding it.