Chris Long has to get tattoo of Ken Flajole if Eagles win Super Bowl

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Be careful what you say, or you just might end up with a tattoo of a 63-year-old man on your body. That's the lesson Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Chris Long learned this week.

When Long signed with the Eagles this offseason, he was reunited with his former defensive coordinator with the St. Louis Rams, Ken Flajole, now Philadelphia's linebackers coach. Some friendly banter between the two this summer could now come back to bite Long.

"When Chris came [to Philadelphia], we were just talking, and I think it was probably training camp, and I probably told him something to the extent of, 'Hey, nothing would be better than to raise the Lombardi Trophy with you.' And he said, 'Hey, if we go to the Super Bowl and win, I'll put a tattoo of your face on my body,'" Flajole recalled. "I said, 'OK, Chris, you better be careful now, because you never know how these things turn sometimes.'"

The Eagles went on to post a 13-3 record, capture the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs and beat the Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings to set up a Super Bowl matchup with the New England Patriots. And here we are.

"A lot of people were like, 'Were you betting that you're not going to win?' It wasn't really a bet," Long said. "I was joking, and he held me to it, and he reminded me this week. It will be a good problem to have."

But will Flajole really hold him to it?

"Yeah, he's a tough dude. He's not going to give me any slack, hopefully," Long said -- the "hopefully" being that it means the Eagles have won the Super Bowl.

"I'm going to hold him to it," Flajole said. "Now, if he wants to barter a little bit to get out of it ... but I think he's prepared to do it. I'm sure he's going to put it in an inconspicuous spot where nobody's gonna say, 'Who is that guy?'

"I said, 'Chris, remember one thing: You're going to be my age one day, and your kids are going to say, "Dad, who is that guy on your arm?" or wherever you put it.' But he's a man of his word, so we'll have fun with it."

Long hasn't decided where the tattoo will be, other than in a place that won't see the light of day.

"Man, I'm just going to hide his ugly mug," Long said. "I don't know where it's going to be. But we've got to worry about winning the game first."