Brotherly Love: Eagles Fans Completely Packed Out A Bar In Delco To Throw A Surprise Party For Uar Bernard Making The Practice Squad
Michael Owens. Getty Images.Uar Bernard never played a single snap of football before the 2026 NFL Draft. He's a 21-year-old from Nigeria who never really played a sport besides basketball a few years ago. But he's an absolute freak of nature. He's just about 6'5", 306 lbs, runs a 4.6 40-yard dash, and has a 10' broad jump. He's a literal mutant, so the Philadelphia Eagles took a chance on him with the 251st pick in the draft.
The Eagles know just how lucky you can get with the NFL's International Player Pathway. They took a chance on drafting Jordan Mailata in 2018, and now he's an All-Pro tackle despite never playing football before the draft. Granted, he came from rugby so there's at least some sort of translatable skills there. But the Eagles know that they have the right coaches in the building to develop raw into elite. Even if it takes a little while.
Uar Bernard isn't going to be on the Eagles' 53-man roster right out of the gate. There is still so much for him to learn and develop. So the Eagles signed him to the practice squad. A 21-year-old kid with an absolutely massive body now gets to make a living in Philadelphia by being on the Eagles' practice squad. But from the turnout by Eagles fans at Dolan's Bar in Delco yesterday, you would think this guy was already a Super Bowl champion.
I mean come on, man. How can anyone ever have anything bad to say about Philly fans after witnessing that?
Uar Bernard is over 5,000 miles from home. He's in a whole new world, playing a sport he's never played before with people he's never met before, and it all has to feel like a giant whirlwind to him. On top of it all, he didn't necessarily make the team. He's on the practice squad, but he still had to clear through waivers first. So it's not like he has a ton of stability.
But that's not going to stop Eagles fans from making sure the young man feels like he's right at home.
How many other fanbases are doing this for a guy on the practice squad? Nobody, that's who.
The Nigerian flags hanging up from the ceiling. An entire bar filled with people who are genuinely excited for this guy to start his NFL journey, and want him to feel like this is exactly where he needs to be. Goddamn it's hard not to get romantic about Philly fans. Anytime anybody brings up "snowballs at Santa Claus" from now on, they better bring this moment up too.
Go Birds. Go Uar Bernard.