When 11-year-old Sam Salvo woke up on Christmas morning, he was surprised with tickets to the Eagles’ wild-card game. When he woke up on Monday morning, after the Eagles’ loss, he was all over the internet, thanks to his viral postgame rant.
“[When I got the tickets], I didn’t know who they were playing, but I was already excited,” Salvo said. “I thought they were going to win. I was like ready to do a backflip. I was so excited.”
Salvo remembers the excitement leading up to kickoff. Lincoln Financial Field, covered in Eagles green as fans piled in to watch the Birds take on the San Francisco 49ers, was ready to erupt. The Eagles took a six-point lead into the fourth quarter, but their Super Bowl defense ended early with a 23-19 defeat.
“It went from everyone being excited to be there, everyone getting ready for a dub,” Salvo said. “Then everyone got pretty sad really quickly. Everyone around me was sad.”
However, one fan in the crowd said something that resonated with Salvo: Win or lose, we’re the [expletive] Birds.
So Salvo left the stadium with his head held high, despite the crushing loss, and that’s when an opportunity presented itself. As he and his father walked toward the parking lot, they noticed 6abc reporter Briana Smith conducting interviews.
“When we were walking past the broadcaster, my dad was like, ‘No, I’m not trying to waste any time here,’” Salvo said. “And then I said, ‘I want to do it.’ So, I did it.”
The Blue Bell native stepped up to the microphone and let out what has become one of the most viral lines to come out of the Eagles’ playoff loss: I also want Kevin Patullo flipping burgers at the local McDonald’s.
“Whenever he’s an offensive coordinator,” Salvo told the camera, “it’s like he’s flipping burgers. … One half he’s cooking, and the other half is completely raw.”
The original post has more than a million likes. For Salvo, the attention was unexpected.
“Absolutely not [was I expecting it to go viral]. I had no idea,” the sixth grader said. “I was just hyped that I was on the news. Small win. But I never thought that I would expand this far.”
The video has gained more than 20 million views on Instagram alone — in fact, that’s just the original post, and does not count the tens of millions of views its received on other platforms and in other posts. Naturally, Salvo has become quite the popular kid.
But the thing Salvo is most excited about is that Patullo has now been removed as the Eagles offensive coordinator.
“[After the game] I was thinking about how much the offense changed when Kevin Patullo came in,” Salvo said shortly after the news broke Tuesday. “So I just wanted to say anything about him that could get him fired. And it worked.
“I’m feeling good about it. Now we can hire a new offensive coordinator. If we could get Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator, I think that would be great.”
Salvo says he’s been bleeding green ever since his uncle gave him his first jersey … when he was born. Now, he also enjoys watching and analyzing games, listening to New Heights with Travis and Jason Kelce, and tuning into The Pat McAfee Show.
“He’s always been around grown-ups,” said his mother Zuzana. “So football Sundays have always been a huge thing. The talk and all that stuff has always been a big part of his life. You cannot stop that fire.”
Salvo’s passion for football is something he hopes to turn into a career down the line, if he doesn’t become a pro tennis player.
“I will absolutely try and be a football announcer,” Salvo said. “I don’t care if it’s college football, just any football.”
And as far as next steps for the Eagles this offseason, Salvo has a few more opinions on Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown, whom he also said also needs to go during his viral interview.
“I’m not going to be mad if he stays, but I need him to show a little bit more effort,” Salvo said. “Because it’s been kind of annoying when we’ve been throwing him deep balls and he’s been showing no effort to even try and catch it.”
Brown, who had a heated exchange with Nick Sirianni during Sunday’s loss, has dodged the media twice since the end of the season.
But if anyone can get a reaction, it’s Salvo.
