Our theme for the month of October is “states.”
I’m not from Philadelphia. I’m not even from any part of Pennsylvania. I’ve never lived there and I didn’t grow up visiting regularly. And yet, I love the Philadelphia Eagles.
My dad loves to wear baseball caps. His favorite is his Philadelphia Eagles hat. You can tell because it’s falling apart at the seams, and my normally fastidious father still wears it. So before I could even walk, could even pronounce the word “NFL,” I knew who the Philadelphia Eagles were.
Growing up, I was too young to really remember the early 2000s golden age of the Eagles under Andy Reid. When I started to enjoy watching football, they were in the midst of a pretty consistent losing streak, usually missing the mark in the Wild Card round, even after winning the NFC East. But in 2017, everything changed with their Super Bowl win. Fans like me were feeling a little nervous about our quarterback Carson Wentz’s injury late in the season, but Nick Foles held it down. My cousin had purchased a Foles #9 Eagles jersey back at the start of the season, and wore it for the rest of that year with a very “I told you so” attitude.
When we would visit my dad’s parents in Atlanta, we would watch football. If it was a Saturday, we were watching the Georgia Bulldogs. If it was a Sunday, we were watching the Atlanta Falcons. If they weren’t playing, we would watch the Carolina Panthers. And if they weren’t playing, we would watch the Eagles.
The best part about watching football with my dad and grandmother was the way we would all get so involved. My grandmother would cheer on her team with big whoops, jumping up off the couch, or a “c’mon boys!” My dad would tease her by saying things like, “I don’t care who wins. I just wanna see a good game.” Sometimes, when one of my grandmother’s teams was playing particularly badly, she would leave the house—not just the living room, the whole house. She’d walk out the front door, and periodically peek back in to hear if they were doing better.
When my dad and my aunt were growing up, my grandmother was famously the loudest cheerer at their athletic games, until she was usurped by another mom who brought a cowbell. Even though it’s been a few years since I’ve watched a game with her beside me, I see her fervor all around me. It’s my sister, who yells things like, “go sports!” and, “do better!” at the TV. It’s me, shouting on the soccer pitch. It’s my mother in law cheering on her sons, loud enough to be heard from the parking lot. It’s my aunt, leaving the room when the Eagles miss a pass.
One thing I love about repping the Eagles is that I’m in good company. The cast of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, for instance. The entire city of Philadelphia, which goes all out when we win. Or Hannah Einbinder and Quinta Brunson. Or my aunt, uncle, cousins, my dad, my grandmother.
I love that the city of Philadelphia has to grease the telephone polls so that fans can’t climb them. I love that “go birds!” is something that can be said to anyone in Eagles gear on the street in any city or state, and you’ll get a “go birds!” in response. I know that one day Jalen Hurts will retire, Saquon Barkley will transfer out, and maybe the Eagles won’t play so well or win so many games. But that’s not really what it was about for me. Part of it is about having something else to share with my family. But I guess most of it is about looking damn good in midnight green.
Carlisle Patete (‘22) came to Calvin University from the mountains of North Carolina and graduated with a double major in film & media and creative writing. After brief stints in Los Angeles and Chicago, she now resides in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she enjoys sweet tea on her front porch and identifying every tree and bird she runs into on any hiking trail.
