Bears' Long calls violence in hometown of Charlottesville 'disheartening'

With violence erupting from white supremacists rallies in Charlottesville, Va., this weekend, Chris and Kyle Long are voicing their disapproval of the events in their hometown.

Chris, who currently plays for the Philadelphia Eagles, tweeted his frustration with the actions of Neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members, and other white supremacists in Charlottesville on Saturday. His brother and Chicago Bears guard spoke Sunday about being taken aback at seeing his hometown in this light.

"Coming from Charlottesville, it's a quiet town. The loudest it gets is on Saturdays at (University of Virginia's) Scott Stadium. I'd say it was shocking to see that, but, you know, there are bad things that happen all the time and, like I said, prayers to those who are involved," Long said, according to ESPN. "Hopefully we can continue to do the right thing as a whole.

"Obviously there's going to be people that don't follow the same suit. Don't be those folks."

Long also said that he believes most protesters in Charlottesville are not locals.

"I haven't seen statistics, but I'd be willing to bet the vast majority of people voicing those white supremacist sentiments were from out of town," said Long. "The majority of the people that were defending our hometown against ideals like that were from Charlottesville, or students.

"It's disheartening, but I really think it's desperation for those folks to feel threatened by us doing the right thing."

Long has been discouraged with how his hometown has been viewed and how he fears people will view him when they know he is a Charlottesville native.

"Don't let a few bad apples ruin what is really true about Charlottesville and that area - there's good folks there," said Long.

Copyright (C) 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.