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Eagles' Chris Long is no fan of John Lennon, who he says was 'a bad guy'

Late Beatle John Lennon is one of the most beloved pop culture figures of all time, but don't go to Eagles defensive end Chris Long for any compliments about him.

Eagles defensive end Chris Long during a press conference at the mall of America in Minnesota, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018.
Eagles defensive end Chris Long during a press conference at the mall of America in Minnesota, Thursday, Feb. 1, 2018.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

Late Beatle John Lennon is one of the most beloved pop culture figures of all time, but don't go to Eagles defensive end Chris Long for any compliments about him.

After all, as Long said on Twitter over the weekend, Lennon, who was shot to death in 1980 at age 40, was "a bad guy."

Long, 33, was taking questions from his Twitter followers on Sunday when one asked him to present a "controversial yet unproblematic opinion" he holds, which prompted him to give his thoughts on the deceased musician.

"John Lennon was a bad guy and if this makes you mad unfollow me," Long later added, doubling down on his statement. "It's easier for me because I don't care for the Beatles. I don't feel a need to cape for an abuser."

That Lennon had an abusive past isn't much of a secret. The late Beatle admitted in a September 1980 Playboy interview that he had physically abused women in his past, saying that "I used to be cruel to my woman." In 2006, late ex-wife Cynthia Lennon released a book in which she claimed Lennon once hit her and was verbally abusive during their relationship.

"I was a hitter," Lennon told Playboy. "I couldn't express myself and I hit. I fought men and I hit women. That is why I am always on about peace, you see. It is the most violent people who go for love and peace."

The late singer also told Playboy that he would "have to be a lot older before I can face in public how I treated women as a youngster." Mark David Chapman killed Lennon in New York about two months after the interview.

Long's take on Lennon prompted plenty of replies online, which he said he found "humorous." Despite the responses, the defensive end didn't change his mind, and even fired back in a few cases:

Long, of course. is no stranger to controversies online. The defensive end last month shot down a boycott of rapper Kanye West over his support for President Donald Trump, and weighed in on the situation surrounding Colin Kaepernick last year.