With the release of ESPN’s new 30 for 30 about the Philly Special on Friday night, Doug Pederson is back on the minds of Eagles fans. And that’s not the only reason why. The former Eagles coach was also spotted this week answering fan questions in an unusual way: over the public address system of an airplane.
Pederson talked about seeing Jalen Hurts grow after they drafted him in 2020, despite already having Carson Wentz as their starter. He also offered some advice for new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion.
"You know, we drafted Jalen Hurts for a reason."
They asked Doug Pederson about the new OC hire and he spent 90 seconds waxing poetic about his QB instead. pic.twitter.com/lpgrMOkUOP
“We drafted Jalen Hurts for a reason,” Pederson said over the microphone. “And we saw something in Jalen Hurts that we felt like he was going to be the starter at some point, he was going to be in the franchise at some point. Sooner, obviously, than later. In his defense, I think this is going to be his sixth offensive coordinator in his career.”
A former quarterback and coordinator himself, Pederson said he understands how difficult that can be, and noted that the Eagles have managed to be very successful despite all the turnover.
“That’s hard,” Pederson said. “But yet you look at the success the Eagles have had over the course of, really, since he’s started. They’ve won a Super Bowl, they’ve been in another Super Bowl. They’ve been to many playoff games. They’ve won a ton of football games. And, every year they’ve had a different offensive coordinator.”
Former offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, who was replaced this offseason by Mannion, faced heavy criticism from fans during the 2025 season due to the team’s struggles on offense.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts will have another new offensive coordinator next year.
So Pederson’s advice to the Birds’ new OC? Work with Hurts.
“I don’t know a ton about [Mannion]. I just know he got to come in and he’s got to work with Jalen. He’s got to figure out what Jalen does best,” Pederson said. “Utilize his strengths, utilize the talent on offense get the run game going to where it was a year ago when they won the Super Bowl. If he does that then they’re going to have a lot of success moving forward.”
According to the fan on the flight who posted the viral video on Reddit, Pederson was there as part of a FanDuel Super Bowl event and took part in an interview before answering fan questions — like who he would rather have on his team, Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes. Pederson also gave his prediction for Sunday’s Super Bowl, where he picked the Seattle Seahawks over the New England Patriots.
Pederson has not coached since the 2024 season after he was fired following a three-year stint with the Jaguars. But he’s open to returning — and according to the Redditor on the flight, Pederson said he has some interest in currently open offensive coordinator positions, but that he is also enjoying spending time with his wife.
Ever since that touchdown helped the Eagles beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII, it’s fascinated Eagles fans — the lore, the backstory, and, of course, the confetti that followed. There have been T-shirts and murals designed to commemorate the play, food specials named after the moment, and a number of tattoos inspired by the event that now decorate the bodies of Eagles fans from all over.
“I don’t know of any other play that people have tattooed up and down their bodies,” former Eagles center Jason Kelce says in ESPN’s new 30 for 30 documentary about the Birds’ first Super Bowl win. “I was in a stadium in Chicago, and a cook raised his sleeve and had the Philly Special X’s and O’s tattooed on his forearm. This is in the Bears’ stadium.”
Now, fans will get a new look behind the play and the people who made it happen in The Philly Special, which premieres at 9 p.m. Friday. The iconic moment, which helped an underdog Eagles team bring the Lombardi Trophy to the city for the first time in franchise history, is told through the eyes of the five men involved — Kelce, Corey Clement, Trey Burton, Nick Foles, and Doug Pederson.
“My wife and I sat down and watched it, and I’m not going to lie, it brought me to tears,” Pederson, the former Eagles coach, said on 94 WIP on Wednesday, the eighth anniversary of the play. “I really felt like they did an outstanding job to me catching sort of the essence and the spirit of Philadelphia, the city, the fans, the passion.”
Helping bring the city to life during the hourlong documentary was Shannon Furman, who grew up in South Jersey and is based in Marlton. Furman, a Penn State graduate, was one of the film’s directors, along with Angela Zender.
Although the play is central to the film, its story begins much earlier. It briefly follows each of the five central characters’ journeys to Super Bowl LII, from the moment they were drafted (or in some cases weren’t) to the moment the Philly Special was called at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
While taking a trolley ride through town, with stops at various Philly landmarks, Pederson, Foles, Kelce, Clement, and Burton discuss their first impressions of the city, while Kelce also finds a way to take a shot at Dallas in the process.
“When I got drafted, my agent said, ‘You know, Jason, you’re going to love Philadelphia. It’s got a great spirit to it. I think you’ll fit in pretty well,’” Kelce said. “There’s a humbleness to it. There’s a cockiness to it. A city that was born on the back of blue-collar workers and manufacturing. Stetson hat factory. To all you Cowboys fans, you think cowboy hats is a [expletive] Texas thing. That was created in Philadelphia. So, [expletive] you guys.”
Kelce may have received promising advice from his agent, but Foles was issued a stern warning by former Eagles head coach Andy Reid. He remembers a conversation he had with Reid as a rookie, not long after he was selected by the Birds in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft.
Andy Reid and Nick Foles during the 2012 season.
“I had a sit down with Andy Reid,” Foles said. “I remember he asked me poignantly, ‘Do you have faith or believe in anything?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m a Christian.’ He said ‘All right, you’re going to need that, because this city has torn grown men apart.’”
Some of that “tearing grown men apart” happens on the radio. Burton, the former Eagles tight end who threw the touchdown pass on the Philly Special, recognized that early.
“I remember my first day in Philly,” Burton said. “My cousin picked me up, and he had the WIP radio [station] on. I was like, ‘What is this?’ People calling in from all over the place, talking crazy.”
For Clement, meanwhile, it was a dream to sign with his hometown team. The former Eagles running back, who grew up in Glassboro, remembers telling the team he would be at the facility “in an hour.” Pederson also was familiar with the city, having played for the Eagles (1999) and been an assistant (2009 to 2012) before becoming head coach (2016 to 2020).
“The Philadelphia hiring for me was a whirlwind of emotion,” Pederson said. “You’re a little bit scared in a way because it’s such a big step. I played here. You know the city, you know the fan base, you know exactly what you’re getting into. You’re not going to make everybody happy. You just settle in and you realize, ‘Hey, this is what you’ve been preparing yourself for.’”
The Eagles’ 2017 season was a whirlwind. The team got off to a 10-2 start behind Carson Wentz before the second-year quarterback and MVP favorite tore his ACL in the team’s Week 14 win over the Los Angeles Rams. With their Pro Bowl quarterback injured, Foles was forced into action.
During one of the group’s stops, Foles asked Pederson and Kelce what their confidence level was like with him stepping in.
“Season’s done,” Pederson said jokingly. “I started believing the media.”
Kelce interjected: “Me and a few guys that had been there for the Chip [Kelly] years with Nick; felt confident that Nick could play really well. We had seen it before.”
Eagles offensive lineman Lane Johnson dons a dog mask as he walks off the field after the team’s 15-10 divisional round playoff win over the Atlanta Falcons in 2018.
With the loss of Wentz, those outside the organization started to count the Eagles out. And that underdog mentality fueled the Eagles, who had printouts of media rankings hanging all over the facility, including in the bathroom, and donned dog masks throughout the playoffs.
But Kelce, Foles, Clement, and Burton were used to being underdogs. It was part of the documentary Furman wishes she had more time to tell.
“I wish we could have really gotten into everyone’s backstory a little bit more,” Furman said. “Because those five characters are really, like, real underdog stories, which is what the whole film is.”
Clement and Burton were undrafted free agents. Kelce was a walk-on at the University of Cincinnati — and hardly a lock to stick with the Eagles after he was drafted in the sixth round. Pederson, a former backup quarterback, was heavily criticized nationally when the Eagles hired him. And then there’s Foles.
Foles’ NFL journey was difficult. The backup-turned-starter was twice cast off, including by Kelly after his first year with the Eagles, despite the team reaching the playoffs. He played for six teams over his 11-year career. After his first stint with the Eagles, Foles found himself in St. Louis, where he began to question whether he wanted to walk away from the sport before Reid brought him to Kansas City and helped revive his career.
“I just said, I don’t know if I can do it anymore,” Foles said. “Then it came over me, which one am I more afraid of? Am I more afraid to leave the game? No, I’m not afraid. I’m trying to leave the game. I’m afraid to go back to the game. And my spirit was like, ‘Well, that’s what you need to do.’ Ultimately, that equipped me for what was to come.”
What was to come was a battle the film likened to Rocky vs. Apollo Creed or Ivan Drago. Cliche or not, Foles found himself standing in U.S. Bank Stadium below giant banners featuring one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, Tom Brady, and himself in a moment one can’t help but compare to an almost identical scene in Rocky, when the title character finds himself staring up at a giant banner of Creed.
Eagles quarterback Nick Foles and Eagles head coach Doug Pederson during the second quarter at Super Bowl LII, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Sunday, Feb. 4, 2018.
‘You want Philly Philly’ — or is it dilly dilly?
It’s fourth-and-goal with 38 seconds left to play in the first half of Super Bowl LII and Pederson sent a play to Foles — only it wasn’t the Philly Special. Players looked out of sync, confused. So the coach decided to take a minute to think things over.
“Here we are fourth-and-goal at the 1, and I called a timeout,” Pederson says. “I’m easing back up to [the] coaches box, just looking, just searching for the right play. I’m just searching. I’m listening to the coaches. And I turn my mic off and now I’m talking face-to-face with Nick, and he just walks up and is like, ‘How about Philly Philly?’ My pause was just like ‘That’s it. That’s the play.’
“The coaches heard it, Philly Special, and it was honestly like crickets. I could hear chirping on the headset. Nobody said a word. It was like, ‘Philly Special? In this moment?’”
Once the play was called, everyone involved admitted they had something to be nervous about — except Foles. Clement was worried the snap would go over his head. Burton hadn’t thrown a touchdown pass since high school. And Kelce was worried how he would snap the ball, although he felt like if they could execute, the Patriots “wouldn’t see it coming.”
Meanwhile, Foles was just trying not to smile.
“In my mind, it was just the play that would work,” Foles recalls. “It wasn’t like a play that I thought would be famous. It was like, this will work for [messing up] the Patriots. The one thing I was thinking about when [Pederson] said, ‘Yeah, lets do it,’ when I turned around was don’t smile. Do not smile. Look serious.
“Because I was so excited. I knew it was going to work. That was my one coaching point. Do not smile.”
The only problem, Foles didn’t actually ask for the “Philly Special.” Instead, he asked for “Philly Philly.” And to this day, he still doesn’t know why he called it the Philly Philly. However, the directors had their own conspiracy theory as to why Foles slipped up: the popular Bud Light “dilly dilly” commercials that were being aired at the time.
“Yes, those were on the TV, the ‘dilly dilly’ commercials,” Foles said. “And there is a very good chance that got engrained somehow into my mind. And that’s why people do commercials. Because it somehow, in your subconscious gets ingrained, even if you don’t want it to. That’s probably what it was.
“It was probably me watching the AFC championship game and seeing commercials. I don’t know how Doug knew what I was asking for though. That’s not — he must’ve seen the commercials too. So, that worked on both of us.”
At one point, the film even shows two Super Bowl officials enjoying a “dilly dilly” commercial on the Jumbotron during a break in the game.
That wasn’t the only way the Philly Special snuck into Foles’ subconscious before he asked for it. He also said watching Tom Brady drop a similar pass right in front of him earlier in the game also reminded him that the play was an option.
Throughout the film, there are plenty of Philly fans, notable citizens, and local spots featured — including Reading Terminal Market, Skinny Joey’s, Termini Bros Bakery, Manco and Manco Pizza, and Zahav, where Foles recalls fans serenading him out of the restaurant with E-A-G-L-E-S chants before leaving for the Super Bowl. The group also makes stops at the Philly Special statue outside of Lincoln Financial Field, as well as atop the Art Museum steps, a location Rocky made famous just over 40 years before Kelce’s unforgettable Super Bowl parade speech that captured Philly and its underdog mentality perfectly.
It was important to Furman for this documentary to not only retell an iconic moment in Philly sports history, but to also represent the fandom behind the team.
“They’re just an important part of everything,” Furman said. “Philly fans get a bad rep sometimes. So we’re hoping this film shows where their passion comes from and why this story was so important to them. The first one was a moment Philly fans, some of them, thought they were never going to see it. So that’s why we wanted them to be a big part of the story.”
Mike Cordisco is not the first person to compare football to religion, but he might be the first person to spend years photographing Eagles tailgates to make the comparison clearer.
Cordisco’s newest project, Sermon on the Lot, is a 98-page book that compiles photos the Cherry Hill native took at Eagles tailgates between 2018 and 2025.
The goal of the project, Cordisco said, was to push past the typical rowdy image of Eagles fans before a game and show their passion as a kind of religious fervor.
Beyond the project’s title, the book itself is designed to look like something one might find in a church pew, with silver embossing on the front and a midnight green ribbon bookmark.
It also features a sermon written by Philadelphia journalist Dan McQuade, who died last week at 43.
Select photos from Sermon on the Lot will be on display at Unique Photo in Center City. Cordisco, 34, is hosting a gallery opening on Friday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and says it will remain in place until mid-March.
Cordisco’s origin story in becoming a photographer is simple. He bought his first camera in 2016 to document his trips to baseball stadiums. It was around the same time he moved within Philadelphia’s city limits for the first time.
Baseball is Cordisco’s “true passion.” He played high school baseball at Cherry Hill West and spent one season on the club team at Rutgers-New Brunswick, where he attended college. He spent a few years working for minor league clubs, working game day operations for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and selling tickets for the Frisco RoughRiders.
After three years in Texas with the RoughRiders, Cordisco moved to the Bella Vista neighborhood of Philadelphia and got a job as a database administrator with Better Tomorrows, a Camden-based nonprofit.
Cordisco was still making frequent trips to MLB stadiums in an effort to see them all, but grew frustrated with trying to document them on his cell phone camera.
“I was straining, lying on the ground, straining on railings to get these perfect shots on my iPhone,” Cordisco said. “And I was like, ‘You know what, why don’t I just get a camera?’”
Cordisco’s love for photography grew, and eventually he became interested in not just documenting moments, but telling stories with his lens. He collected his baseball photography into a project titled If They Don’t Win It’s a Shame, which “exposes American culture and society within the confines of its national pastime,” according to Cordisco’s website.
“It’s a way to tell all these stories and use my experience in the field, [to] visually tell these stories that I’m interested in,” Cordisco said.
Once Cordisco started to take photography more seriously, he knew he wanted to put together a project that would capture Philadelphia, which he considers to be “the one identifiable U.S. city.”
The city’s sports teams seemed like a natural place to begin framing Philly’s identity. Cordisco did not have personal allegiances to the Philadelphia teams, as his family had roots in New York, but he knew how much Philly cared about its teams from growing up in its suburbs. He began to shoot the places where he saw the city and its teams entwined.
“I was photographing diners that might have Eagles merch in the windows and people’s Phillies and Eagles bumper stickers,” Cordisco said.
He also began photographing the occasional Eagles tailgate. He became captivated by the community that surrounded Lincoln Financial Field on Sundays. By 2022, he had narrowed the project down to focus on tailgating.
A photo of Eagles fans tailgating from Mike Cordisco’s photo project, “Sermon on the Lot.”
“Through the middle of this season, I went to every single one,” Cordisco said. “It was just, for me, the best way to really show and visualize Philly culture.”
Those photos became Sermon on the Lot. Cordisco chose to drape the project in religious metaphors to frame football, and particularly Eagles fandom, as a religion — one with its own set of rituals, traditions, and ways of worship.
“On Sundays, you go to Mass,” Cordisco said. “But in Philly, you go to the parking lot and tailgate an Eagles game.”
Even though the scope of the project changed from its initial aim to portray Philadelphia, Cordisco still feels the city’s identity lies within Sermon on the Lot.
“There’s no way it can’t come through,” Cordisco said. “I think my photos and the work definitely still show that classic grit and character that Philly is known for in the images … It’s still there, even if it’s maybe a layer or two deeper in the work.”
Dan McQuade, seen here in a Daily News photo from 2014, died on Jan. 28, of neuroendocrine cancer, one day after his 43rd birthday.
McQuade’s missive
Cordisco was seeking a Philadelphia writer to pen a foreword for his book. He was a frequent reader of McQuade’s work, so Cordisco sent McQuade a cold email in September to see if he would be interested writing something for the project.
“There was nobody else who could have written that,” Cordisco said. “He had no idea who I was, I just e-mailed him one day and he got back to me and said that he would love to do it.”
To fit the project’s religious theming, McQuade’s foreword takes the form of a sermon. It is about the two men who showed up to former Eagles owner Leonard Tose’s house after news broke that Tose had agreed to sell a portion of the team and move it to Phoenix in 1984.
The two men, Barry Martin and Robert Vandetty, left Tose a note asking the owner to reconsider, as McQuade detailed in a 2023 story for Defector. Martin and Vandetty’s note closed with a simple phrase: “Go Birds — Philadelphia Birds.”
“‘Go Birds’ is your greeting, your mantra, your rallying cry,” an excerpt of McQuade’s sermon reads. “The Eagles trademarked it, but it does not belong to them. It is yours. Think of Barry and Rob. They risked arrest to say ‘Go Birds.’ When you go forth today, I beseech you to say it too.“
Cordisco said McQuade went “above and beyond” in his involvement with the project, offering ideas on how to display the work at the Unique Photo gallery showing. McQuade’s words will hang alongside Cordisco’s photos on the walls of the Center City photo store.
Cordisco started Sermon on the Mount more interested in how the Eagles reflected Philadelphia than the team itself. But now, thanks to the community he found in the parking lots, he considers himself a Birds convert.
“I went out to the tailgates and just saw how much it truly meant to people,” Cordisco said. “Not even just the wins and losses, but just being there. I talked to people that have been tailgating in the same RV for 40 years now, and they would tell me all these stories about how they raised their kids at the tailgates.
“Making that connection with so many people only strengthened my fandom of the Eagles.”
The Winter Olympics are underway — and the opening ceremony was Friday night. Team USA features 232 athletes — 117 men, 115 women, 98 returning Olympians, and 18 Olympic champions. And there are a few Philly-area natives competing in Milan and Cortina.
Here’s look at some Olympians with ties to the region and how to watch them compete:
Isabeau Levito, figure skating
Isabeau Levito, who was born in Philadelphia and lives and trains in Mount Laurel, will make her Olympic debut in front of family in Milan, where her mother was born and some family still lives. The 18-year-old Levito, who has been skating since she was 3 years old, burst onto the scene with a third-place finish at the 2022 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and won the event the next year when she was 15. She also won a silver medal at worlds in 2024.
How and when to watch? The women’s individual figure skating competition doesn’t take place until the second half of the Winter Games. The women’s singles short program is Feb. 17 (12:45 p.m. Philadelphia time), and will air on NBC (Part I) and USA Network (Part II). The women’s singles free skate is scheduled for Feb. 19 (1 p.m.), and will air on NBC. Both events will stream live on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, the NBC Olympics app, and the NBC app. You can check out the full women’s singles figure skating TV schedule here.
Taylor Anderson-Heide (center) grew up in Broomall and learned to curl with her identical twin sister.
Taylor Anderson-Heide, curling
Taylor Anderson-Heide, another Philadelphia-born Olympian, grew up in Broomall and graduated from Marple Newtown High School before attending the University of Minnesota. Anderson-Heide began curling with her identical twin sister, Sarah Anderson, at a young age and trained at the Philadelphia Curling Club in Paoli.
Anderson-Heide is a five-time national champion, winning twice in mixed doubles (2015, 2018); three times in the women’s event, including twice alongside her sister (2019, 2021); and again in 2025. While Anderson-Heide has finished in the top three in women’s curling in two U.S. Olympic trials, the Milan Games will be her first Olympic events.
How and when to watch? Mixed doubles curling is underway, but Anderson-Heide is competing in the women’s event, which doesn’t begin until Feb. 12. The U.S. women’s team has round-robin sessions every day between Feb. 12-19, and if it advances, the semifinals take place on Feb. 20. The women’s bronze medal match is on Feb. 21, and the women’s gold-medal match takes place on Feb. 22. You can check out the women’s curling TV schedule here, as the games will air at different times and on a trio of networks — CNBC, USA, and NBC — throughout the tournament.
Heo, the son of South Korean immigrants, grew up in Warrington. He followed his cousins and older brother into speedskating and made his first U.S. national team at just 17. Three years later, he made his Olympic debut at the 2022 Beijing Games, finishing seventh in the men’s 1,000-meter race, 28th in the 1,500, and eighth in the 2,000-meter mixed relay. Heo is a two-time world bronze medalist, and he won his first ISU Short Track World Tour race, the 500 meters, in 2025. Also helping Heo at this Olympics: His parents can attend, after COVID-19 restrictions forced them to watch from their home in Bucks County in 2022.
How and when to watch? Men’s speedskating runs from Feb. 7-21, with events airing on NBC, USA Network and streaming live on Peacock. Heo will compete in the 1,500- and 500-meter races, and the 2,000-meter mixed relay. The mixed relay finals will be held on Feb. 10; the 1,500-meter finals will be held on Feb. 14; and the 500-meter finals will be on Feb. 18. For more time and channel information, click here.
Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet is serving as an assistant coach for Team Canada.
Flyers players and coaches
While they weren’t born in Philly, there are four members of the Flyers in Italy for the Olympics.
Rick Tocchet: Tocchet, who represented his native Canada in World Championships and Canada Cups as a player, will get his first Olympic experience in Milan as an assistant coach with the Canadians. The tournament will have added meaning for the Flyers’ bench boss, as both of his parents emigrated from Italy.
Travis Sanheim: Sanheim’s rise from a small Manitoba town of 500 people to the pinnacle of the sport has been nothing short of remarkable to watch. After winning a 4 Nations Face-Off title last year with Canada, the Flyers defenseman will look to add an Olympic gold medal to his trophy case.
Dan Vladař: The goaltender, who is in his first year with the Flyers and has been the team’s MVP through the Olympic break, will represent Czechia in Milan. Vladař has the best NHL numbers of the three Czech goalies and could push starter Lukáš Dostál for the net.
Rasmus Ristolainen: A year after missing out on the 4 Nations Face-Off due to injury, Ristolainen will return to the Finnish setup for the first time in nine years. Pesky Finland always seems to be in contention for a medal, and Ristolainen will provide size and snarl to their blue line.
*Rodrigo Ābols: The Flyers centerman was announced as one of Latvia’s initial six players, but will be unable to participate after suffering a nasty-looking ankle injury on Jan. 17.
Penn State’s Tessa Janecke is making her Olympic debut at the Milan Cortina Games.
Athletes from Penn State
In addition to Philly natives and pro athletes, there are also some Olympians from Penn State.
Tessa Janecke, ice hockey: Janecke, 21, holds the title for most career goals, assists, and points in Penn State women’s hockey history. She was named to the U.S. women’s hockey team three years ago and scored the golden goal in the 2025 IIHF World Championships when the U.S. defeated Canada, 4-3. Janecke was raised in Warren, Ill., and started playing hockey at age 3.
The U.S. women’s hockey team began its schedule with a 5-1 win over Czechia on Thursday, and Janecke recorded a pair of assists. The team’s three remaining preliminary games run through Feb. 10. The knockout rounds begin with the quarterfinals on Feb. 13, and the tournament wraps up with the gold and bronze medal games on Feb. 19. Women’s ice hockey will be live primarily on Peacock, which will stream every game. TV coverage is also available for select games on NBC, USA, and CNBC.
Dan Barefoot, skeleton: Another Nittany Lion, the 35-year-old Johnstown, Pa., native didn’t take up skeleton until his mid-20s. Barefoot was inspired to start training after looking up online which Olympic sports a novice could learn later in life with little to no experience. When the skeleton was the search result, he got to work. Since then, Barefoot, who graduated from Penn State with a degree in landscape architecture, has competed in three world championships for the U.S. and finished 11th at the 2025 IBSF World Championships in Lake Placid, N.Y. The 2026 Games will be his Olympic debut.
Skeleton events can be watched live on Peacock, NBC, and USA Network from Feb. 12-15.
Chloe Kim won gold in the women’s halfpipe at each of the last two Winter Olympics.
Summer Britcher, luge: Britcher was raised in Glen Rock, Pa., in York County and is no stranger to the Olympic stage. She is a veteran of four Olympic Games, and was the youngest member of the U.S. luge team at the 2014 Sochi Games when she was just 19. Britcher has five career World Cup victories, making her the all-time singles leader in U.S. luge history.
Kelly Kurtis, skeleton: Kurtis first made history at the 2022 Beijing Games when she became the first Black athlete to compete for Team USA in skeleton. She was raised in Princeton, N.J., and grew up hating the cold. She first took up bobsled in 2013 before transitioning to skeleton a year later after watching the event during the 2014 Olympic Games. In the 2022 Olympic Games, Curtis finished 21st overall.
Brianna Schnorrbusch, snowboarding: Schnorrbusch grew up in Monroe Township, N.J., and was just 17 when she was named to the U.S. snowboardcross Pro Team. Her specialty is women’s snowboardcross, while her sister, Ty Schnorrbusch, competes in slopestyle snowboarding. Now, at just 20 years old, Schnorrbusch will make her Olympic debut.
Chloe Kim, snowboarding: A household name for Team USA, Kim made her Olympic debut in the 2018 Pyeongchang games where she won gold in the women’s halfpipe at 17 years old, making her the youngest woman to win an Olympic snowboarding gold medal. She defended her title in the 2022 Beijing Games. Kim, who attended Princeton, is also the first athlete to win titles at all four major snowboarding events — the Olympics, Youth Winter Olympics, X Games, and FIS World Championships. At age 25, the Torrance, Calif., native is already tied with Shaun White for the most halfpipe wins in X Games history (8).
Sarah Nurse, ice hockey: Nurse isn’t from the area — and doesn’t even play for Team USA — but she’s one of the stars of women’s hockey and is an Olympic veteran. So why should Philadelphians care? She’s also Donovan McNabb’s niece. But the family’s athletic bloodlines extend beyond the former Eagles quarterback. Nurse’s cousins, Darnell and Kia Nurse, play in the NHL and WNBA, respectively. And their father, Nurse’s other uncle, played in the CFL. Nurse has helped Canada, the favorite again this year, to a pair of Olympic medals — gold in 2022 and silver in 2018 — and three World Championships titles.
On Wednesday, in a social media post addressed to Philadelphia, longtime Eagles offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland announced his decision to leave the organization after 13 seasons.
“I’ve decided my time coaching with the Eagles has come to an end,” he wrote. “When I arrived here in 2013, I did not know what I was signing up for. I quickly learned what this city demands. But more importantly, what it gives back. The past 13 years have been the great privilege of my coaching career. I didn’t just work here, I became one of you. Stout Out.”
At least one Eagles offensive lineman was named to the Pro Bowl in every year of Stoutland’s tenure with the franchise. Two Eagles running backs led the league in rushing during the same span: LeSean McCoy in 2013 and Saquon Barkley in 2024.
The news comes a week after The Inquirer first reported that Stoutland’s role as the team’s run game coordinator waned during the season as the Eagles shifted their game-planning responsibilities. Stoutland, as reported by ESPN, did not desire to keep the role after the in-season change.
With the news of the two-time Super Bowl champion assistant relinquishing his coaching role, many fans have taken to social media to thank Stoutland. Others have looked to display their dismay …
I seriously wish stoutland got one more ring or NFC championship. The amount of talent he coached up will be remembered. Thank you for giving us some of the best OL play 🫶🏼 #stoutland
Leaving no time wasted, some fans have begun to blame Stoutland’s departure on coach Nick Sirianni’s reported takeover of run coordinator duties. Stoutland’s agent, Alan Herman, told ESPN that Stoutland was frustrated with the change and felt his input was being ignored.
The news of Stoutland’s decision was coupled with uncertainty around defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s retirement. The Inquirer has since reported that Fangio will be staying with the Eagles through 2026, but that did not stop onlookers from connecting the two coaching developments to what they perceived as a larger cultural problem.
Eagles might as well fire Sirianni now. Stoutland suddenly leaving and Fangio seriously considering retirement. That's two elite coaches that don't want to work with you
Vic Fangio and Jeff Stoutland. 2 of the most respected coaches in the NFL. Both wanted to leave like the NovaCare complex was on fire. That should tell you all you need to know. pic.twitter.com/OKgXkVgodW
Others have called on fans to stop the blame game and cease the “conspiracy theories.” Meanwhile, some have seen the departure as a positive for the franchise, as it indicated that new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion would be taking more control over the offense.
Stoutland leaving is a big loss, but the overreaction and conspiracy theories about why he's leaving is nauseating.
Idk this seems healthy and doesn’t create panic for me. If we want real change on offense then Mannion needs space to implement his scheme (pass game + run game). If adapting to McVay/Shanahan scheme gave Stoutland pause, as article suggests, it was time to part. Great run. https://t.co/gSjso9fs2f
Stoutland was not the only Philadelphia favorite to depart from the city on Wednesday. A few hours before the assistant coach’s announcement, the Sixers traded away second-year guard Jared McCain to Oklahoma City for the Houston Rockets’ 2026 first-round pick and three second-round picks.
Report: Sixers had no idea Stoutland was going to “retire” and would not have traded Philadelphia hero Jared McCain to “add salt to the wounds”. https://t.co/bjS7BgcfH8
The moment sounds like something that could only come straight out of a movie — until now. On Wednesday, Jordan Mailata, George Kittle, and Bijan Robinson went Pitch Perfect at San Francisco’s Ferry Building ahead of Super Bowl LX weekend.
George Kittle, Bijan Robinson, and Jordan Mailata out here singing a cappella during #SuperBowl week with Adam Devine and The Treblemakers 😂😂😂
Mailata, Kittle, and Robinson joined Pitch Perfect star — and Treblemaker — Adam Devine and the University of Wisconsin’s competitive a cappella group, Fundamentally Sound, who went viral on social media after surprising people in the street with birthday songs.
The group wore matching jackets and performed a riff off-inspired rendition that included Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger,” before announcing the winner of the Marriott Bonvoy Super Bowl Sleepover Suite, in which one fan gets to wake up Sunday in a suite in Levi’s Stadium.
“I’m closing out the football season as Marriott Bonvoy’s Fanbassador and announcing the Super Bowl Sleepover Suite winner the only way I know how … by singing,” Devine said in a release. “I couldn’t have done it without my NFL buddies. They were great, but thankfully, these men are athletic specimens and don’t make their living singing.”
From left, Adam Devine, , Bijan Robinson, George Kittle, and Jordan Mailata perform as the Treblemakers in San Francisco.
While Kittle and Robinson, the Falcons’ star running back, may have some work to do on their voices, Mailata appeared to be in his element.
Kittle, meanwhile, didn’t just have to learn a new song and dance. The 49ers tight end suffered a torn Achilles tendon during the Niners’ wild-card win over the Eagles and performed the choreography in a boot while driving around on a scooter.
Was there today at Ferry Building George Kittle was hilarious 😂 he was singing along Falcons star RB. Bijan Robinson & Eagles Jordan Mailata #FTTBpic.twitter.com/bHNaPU9iHV
The opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics doesn’t take place until Friday at Milan’s San Siro Stadium, but some of the world’s top athletes are already competing in Italy. That includes in the sport of curling, which always seems to shine on the global stage.
“I love exposing people to something that’s so special,” said Carolyn Lloyd, who’s been a member of the Philadelphia Curling Club for 20 years. “People don’t realize just how special it is. It’s different from a lot of sports, certainly in its culture. This sport captures my whole heart.”
Curling is one of the first sports to start, with mixed doubles beginning Wednesday. Team USA made its debut early Thursday against Norway and Switzerland in mixed doubles. However, men’s and women’s curling will begin on Feb. 12 and will feature a local athlete: Marple Newtown High School graduate Taylor Anderson-Heide, who attended the University of Minnesota and is making her Olympic debut.
Anderson-Heide, 30, is a five-time national champion. She trained at the Philadelphia Curling Club in Paoli with her identical twin Sarah Anderson.
“What I saw watching these kids grow up, was the dedication of coming and continuing to work through adversity,” Lloyd, who lives in Collegeville, said of the Anderson sisters. “Any sport you’re going to lose a lot while you’re learning and you have to be resilient. That’s one thing that I’m always the most impressed at when I think about them. And I cheer their successes. And when they struggle, I feel it too because you know how hard they work.”
Here’s everything you need to know about curling before it once again captures the world’s attention at the Winter Olympics …
What are the rules of curling?
Curling, which officially became an Olympic sport in 1998, involves two teams sliding granite stones across a long strip of ice known as a sheet. Players take turns sliding a 44-pound stone toward a round target, known as a house, that sits at each end of the 150-foot long sheet. Each house consists of four rings and a center, known as the button.
Two teams of four players take turns delivering one stone at a time. When delivering a stone, a player uses one of the hacks, or fixed rubber blocks, to push off and must release it before what is known as “the hog line” for it to be considered in play.
Canada’s Brett Gallant releases the stone before the hog line in one of the matches on Wednesday’s opening day.
Games are typically 10 rounds (or ends), and only one team is awarded points after each. The team with the stone closest to the button after all 16 are thrown (eight per team) receives one point — and one additional point for each stone that is both inside or touching the house and closer to the button than opposing team’s closest stone. The team that goes last has what is called “the hammer,” a distinct advantage that passes to the other team after the team that possess it scores.
A traditional team consists of a lead, second, third, and fourth — and players throw stones, two each, in that order. A fifth player serves as an alternate. Each team also appoints a captain, known as the skip, and a vice skip. The skip is in charge of directing play for the team and typically stands in the house at the scoring end of the sheet. The vice-skip takes over their duties when the skip, who typically goes last, is delivering stones.
Then there’s sweeping. In addition to the rotation of the stone helping guide its trajectory, a pair of sweepers can brush the ice, creating friction and influencing how the stone moves. You’ll often see the skip yelling out orders to these players as they quickly move down the sheet and stay ahead of the stone.
And the ice? It’s not the same as what the Flyers play on.
“You can’t curl on a skating or ice hockey rink,” former Olympic curler and current Great Britain’s chef de mission (or non-playing captain) Eve Muirhead recently told the Athletic. “The stone wouldn’t go anywhere. So you put millions of tiny water droplets on the sheet to cause less friction between the ice and stone. The droplets freeze into what we call ‘pebble’ — if you run your hand over the ice, it’s rough.”
In mixed doubles, which joined the Olympics in 2018, the rules are slightly different. The game includes just two players — one male and one female — as well as pre-placed stones, a “power play,” and fewer ends.
Curling is considered one of the oldest team sports. According to World Curling, a 16th century Flemish artist known as Pieter Bruegel painted an activity similar to curling being played on frozen ponds. Written evidence dates to the mid-1500s in Scotland, where the first recognized curling clubs were formed — and where the majority of granite for the stones is produced.
The game eventually spread across the globe, but the first official international competition didn’t take place until the 1924 Winter Games in Chamonix, France, where curling made its Olympic debut as a men’s competition. While curling made a couple more appearances over the next 60 years as a demonstration event — at the 1932 Olympic Winter Games (Lake Placid), the 1988 Olympic Winter Games (Calgary), and the 1992 Olympic Games (Albertville) — it wasn’t until 1998 in Nagano that curling was included as a full medal sport for both men and women.
Kristin Skaslien of Norway faces off against Britain at the 2026 Winter Olympics on Wednesday.
Since then, Lloyd, 49, has seen the growth in the sport on a local level.
“We went from having like a couple 50 to 75 people coming to open house to having hundreds of people outside,” Lloyd said. “The police were here and there was a line down the block. It got so crazy so fast.”
Every four years, curling again captivates the fans around the world. But why? Part of that is likely how different it is from many of the fast-paced Olympic sports. That slower pace allows for more strategy and real-time analysis, like baseball. And it doesn’t look that hard — although looks are deceiving in this case.
It can also be very satisfying to watch heavy stones effortlessly glide across ice, especially when they do it like this …
Another reason people enjoy curling is the etiquette and sportsmanship associated with the sport.
During the week the Philadelphia Curling Club will host league nights where members compete in games. After the competition, it’s tradition to stay after and socialize, with the winning team buying the losing team the first round of drinks.
The postgame ritual is known as “broomstacking,” and has become a deeply rooted tradition that focuses on the camaraderie of the sport.
“Broomstacking is usually in the more fun tournaments,” said former Philadelphia Curling Club member, and Olympic curler Taylor Anderson-Heide in a YouTube video on the spirit of curling. “Or we call them bonspiels. You can decide to stack your brooms on the house and then go have a drink inside at the bar.”
There are other unspoken rules. For instance, similar to golf, the crowd never cheers for missed shots — and you always shake your opponents hand before and after a game. There’s also no talking during an opponent’s shot, and players call their own fouls. And like in chess, you must know when to concede when there’s no way to mathematically win.
If this got you excited to watch, good news: There is curling every day of the Olympics, until Feb. 22, when the women’s gold medal will be decided. There are far too many games to list here, but you can check out the official Olympic schedule here.
The mixed doubles medal matches will take place first, on Feb. 10 at 8:05 a.m. ET (bronze medal match) and 12:05 p.m. (gold).
The men’s bronze medal match is Feb. 20 at 1:05 p.m. ET, with the gold medal match the following day at the same time. The women’s bronze medal will be decided on Feb. 21 at 8:05 a.m. ET, with the women’s gold medal match concluding the event on Feb. 22 at 5:05 a.m. ET.
How can I watch Olympic curling?
Select matches will air on CNBC and USA Network, with the women’s gold medal match on Feb. 22 scheduled to air on NBC. All of the matches will be available to stream on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com. You can get the full TV schedule here.
After less than two seasons with the Sixers, Jared McCain is saying goodbye to the City of Brotherly Love.
In what is one of the biggest surprises of the 2026 trade deadline so far,the Sixers traded McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for the Houston Rockets’ 2026 first-round pick and three second-round picks.
McCain got off to a quick start in his rookie campaign in Philly, averaging 15.3 points, 2.6 assists, and 2.4 boards on 46% shooting from the floor in 23 games before a meniscus tear sidelined him for the remainder of the season.
“Mom how good was Jared McCain during his rookie year before getting injured” pic.twitter.com/wYt7f4BsZR
While he had a standout rookie season, McCain struggled in his second year since returning from his injury, averaging 6.6 points in 16.8 minutes. But he did have a breakout game against the Milwaukee Bucks last week, scoring 17 points on 5 of 6 shooting from deep, and had scored in double digits in three of his last six games before the trade.
But Sixers fans weren’t just falling in love with McCain’s presence on the court. The 21-year-old guard also made a name for himself on social media, boasting 4.9 million followers on TikTok and 1.9 million followers on Instagram.
So it’s no surprise that Philly fans took to social media to express their condolences about the trade. That’s right, condolences. Sixers fans are mourning the trade and reluctantly saying goodbye to McCain in the process.
Hate it. Absolutely hate it.
I would guess that this is setting up another move, though. If part of the calculus here was ducking the tax, that’s outrageous https://t.co/ta3KRTdUZn
Other fans were less emotional, but the common theme remained disappointment, even though star rookie VJ Edgecombe and All-Star starter Tyrese Maxey are blocking him from playing more minutes.
The fact that Sam Presti wants Jared McCain is a reason not to trade Jared McCain https://t.co/A8EAX9YyTL
14 months ago Jared McCain was scoring 20 points a night for a solid stretch doing Steph Curry type of things like this.
Now he’s a crappy first rounder (in a good draft I might add), and three second rounders that will probably be traded with players to duck the tax in future… pic.twitter.com/xqKI9qJhm1
While Sixers fans continue to cope with the loss in their own way, there are plenty in the media, who get paid to think with their heads and not their hearts, who weighed in on the deal …
Jared McCain traded?
Bill Colarulo and Ricky Bo react to the surprising Sixers news on Unfiltered. pic.twitter.com/PsSiSQZWl2
The talented McCain lands on the reigning NBA champions. For the 76ers, the trade allows them to receive assets, clear space in the glut of guards and give them flexibility to bring Quentin Grimes back in free agency. It also allows them to convert two-way Dominick Barlow. https://t.co/Dvsqvog38z
Wednesday — or, more specifically, Feb. 4 — is a memorable day for Eagles fans. On this date in 2018, the Birds brought home their first Super Bowl title with a thrilling 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots.
The Patriots are back in the Super Bowl this Sunday as Mike Vrabel pioneers a new era for the franchise. But eight years later, questions and debates still surround how Nick Foles and the Eagles pulled off that upset win over the Patriots in Super Bowl LII. Some will be answered in the upcoming ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, The Philly Special, this Friday.
Meanwhile, for former Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler, parts of Super Bowl LII are still unresolved. Butler, reflecting on his career, told the Boston Globe earlier this week that he doesn’t know why he was benched for most of that game.
Butler rose to instant fame in 2015 for his game-sealing interception that helped the Patriots top the Seahawks, 28-24, in Super Bowl XLIX, the first and only other Super Bowl meeting between the two teams.
However, Butler, who won a pair of championships with the Patriots, told the Globe that Super Bowl LII is the one he thinks about the most. Butler, a starter and star player for the Patriots that season, watched the Eagles win from the bench at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. He played just one special teams snap in the game.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick (left) benched Malcolm Butler for nearly the entire Super Bowl LII loss to Doug Pederson (right) and the Eagles.
It was a controversial coaching decision by Bill Belichick for which he and Butler never had a clear explanation. While Butler expressed no resentment about the matter, he admitted that eight years later, he still is unsure of the reasoning behind Belichick’s move.
“That’s the [Super Bowl] I think about the most,” Butler said. “Tom Brady could’ve had eight rings, I could’ve had three. It was just a coaching decision. I’m going to call North Carolina and see if I can get in touch with Bill. I’ll ask him.”
The team’s reported issues with Butler’s practicing and a heated exchange with then-defensive coordinator Matt Patricia allegedly contributed to the benching. According to a 2021 book by Seth Wickersham, It’s Better To Be Feared, Butler said, “‘These dudes,’ referring to the coaches … ‘these [expletives],” when asked why he was benched at the team’s after-party. There were also reports that Butler missed a curfew during Super Bowl week, which Butler has denied.
Butler left after that Super Bowl loss for a three-year stint with the Tennessee Titans, and then signed with the Arizona Cardinals but retired before the start of the 2021 season. He came out of retirement in 2022 and re-signed with the Patriots but was injured and never played another game for New England, retiring again in 2024.
Apparel brand Fanatics issued an apology this week over the lack of availability and poor quality of its Super Bowl LX gear after complaints from New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks fans.
In a statement posted Monday night on social media, Fanatics wrote that “we’ve let Patriots and Seahawks fans down with product availability — we own that and we are sorry.”
The NFL’s official merchandising partner pointed to the surge in demand for Seahawks and Patriots gear after both teams missed the playoffs last year, and admitted that the company was struggling to “meet the overwhelming demand to keep team color jerseys in stock.”
NFL fans, we've seen your jersey feedback, and we take it very seriously. We’ve let Patriots and Seahawks fans down with product availability – we own that and we are sorry.
This Super Bowl matchup has created unprecedented challenges for us because of the massive surge in…
Fanatics’ statement also tried to downplay the images circulating on social media — “We’ve heard questions about the quality of these alternate jerseys and can assure you that, despite some unflattering photos, these jerseys are identical to the standard Nike replica ‘Game’ jersey,” the company said — but fans and members of the media keep showing proof that says otherwise.
Doug Kyed, Patriots’ beat reporter for the Boston Herald, shared photos of New England gear on site at the Super Bowl in the San Francisco area and there aren’t many options for fans looking to buy Patriots gear.
CBS national NFL reporter Jonathan Jones pointed out that a jersey purchased 10 years ago not only had better quality — it was cheaper, too.
A jersey bought today is a more expensive and worse product than, say, 10 years ago, and there’s no reason for it beyond greed. People spend good money and deserve better. Maybe this embarrassment will force this company to simply be better. https://t.co/IScsmgVZyG
The Patriots’ official pro shop posted a picture of its jersey options on Monday, and several X users pointed out that the Super Bowl LX patch location was different for each jersey.
Why are the Super Bowl patches in completely different spots on each jerseys?
Seahawks fans are also complaining about the lack of availability for jerseys. But Fanatics appears to have plenty, as long as you want one in a color that the team has never worn or one that is not a replica of team-worn gear.
Thx 4 the response but the "whites" are not replica to "game" jerseys. Ur product makes the photo unflattering. Where are the sleeve details that match the blue jerseys? Why do they look different between home and away if they are replica? No issues with the Blues its the whites. https://t.co/JnxlSOLEYOpic.twitter.com/07cz5k914H
This is hardly the first time Fanatics faced backlash for the quantity and quality of its products.
Eagles fans also had a hard time finding the team’s jerseys ahead of its Super Bowl LVII appearance, when, as with the Seahawks this year, the only jerseys available with a game patch were in a non-team color (silver) — not white, green, or even black. It was a problem again for Super Bowl LIX. One fan pointed out that even when his jersey did arrive, well after the 2023 title game, it featured a crooked number.
2022 Super Bowl every single Eagles SB jersey Fanatics sent out had crooked numbers (example below) & they were not even made available by Fanatics until after the game was over
Last year (LIX) you couldnt keep up w/ demand & stuff sold out instantly
