Chris Long 'Hungry' To Suit Up For Patriots In 2016

BOSTON (CBS) -- As the No. 2 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, Chris Long's career began with an incredible high point. Quickly, though, the lows began stacking up, beginning with a 2-14 rookie season for the St. Louis Rams.

Though Long was personally improving his game each year, his team as not, as evidenced by the 1-15 record in 2009 and 2-14 record in 2011. Long's personal game took a hit over the most recent two seasons due to injuries, and overall in his time as a Ram, his teams went 39-88-1 and participated in zero playoff games.

In that same time span, the New England Patriots went 96-32, played in 14 playoff games, and won a Super Bowl.

Suffice it to say, Long is pretty excited about his new football home.

"The past is the past. Anything in football whether it's the highs or the lows, the experiences, if it doesn't kill you it makes you stronger. I think after eight years I'm a pretty strong person mentally. I'm so hungry to be a part of this organization and be a contributing part," Long said Thursday in a conference call. "The last eight years, all the experiences – not just the bad, the good – they make you who you are. I like who I am right now and I'm excited and I think that I can bring a lot to the table to help the team and I'm eager to help this organization in any way I can. Part of that is certainly the hunger and everything from the last eight years, but it's the past."

Adding to the appeal of playing for the Patriots is the fact that he'll be close to the hometown of his father, Howie Long, who grew up in Milford. Though Chris Long hasn't spent much time in Massachusetts, he's excited at the prospect.

"It's certainly cool to go back and play somewhere where my dad grew up. There's a lot to his story coming out," Long said. "On a personal level, I'm just excited to be a part of such a great sports town, sports city. I can't think of a better fan base or collection of great pro sports teams and how passionate these fans are about football, but also with the Celtics, and the Bruins, and the Red Sox. They love all their teams. They've won championships in everything in the past several years so it's a special thing to be a part of. The family thing is real cool and I'm sure as I get up there some things that I hadn't anticipated form a family standpoint will kind of develop in a great way and I might meet some people that say, 'Hey I went to high school with your pops,' or are mutual friends. That's part of it and it's very cool to me but the sports city part of it I'm really excited about.

"Just from the day I was lucky enough to sign, the fans, the outreach on social media, and the excitement – you can really feel it."

Long isn't the only big-name addition joining the Patriots this offseason. Terrance Knighton and Shea McClellin will both be getting their first action as Patriots in the coming months, too, as Bill Belichick is clearly focused on bulking up his defense.

"It's interesting. You look around and you're certainly overwhelmed with excitement to be a part of something like the New England Patriots, and then when you see more guys added of their caliber, it's exciting," Long said. "We'll see. I'm sure the entire team chemistry seems awesome so I don't know why those guys wouldn't be great as well and everybody will mesh well. We're all working towards the same goal."

Long also appreciated getting some Twitter love from Chandler Jones, who's ostensibly the guy whom Long is replacing on the Patriots' defensive line.

"Yeah, I thought that was great," Long said of the tweet. "This is a profession of respect. Everybody respects each other. You should because it takes a certain type of person to put pads on and play every Sunday. It's a man's game so we have a lot of respect for each other. I respect Chandler's game so much. I've met Chandler before, after a game where we played them – I think it was in London. I made it a point to tell him how much I respect his game. I know Chandler and he's a heck of a player and it's just how things shook out. I don't read into anything but he's a classy guy and I thought that was real cool. 140 characters doesn't sum it up sometimes but it's nothing but respect for that guy and I know he's going to do great wherever he continues to be in his career."