Philly fans. Those two words are all you need to say and no matter who you are talking to, they are immediately going to have a reaction. It could be positive, it could be negative, but all you have to do is say “Philly fans” and there will be plenty to talk about. You can’t say that about many other fanbases out there. Like what if somebody came up to you right now and said “Arizona fans”. Your only response would probably be “yeah, what about them?”. But everybody has an opinion on Philly fans and that’s because of our unyielding, unapologetic, and borderline-psychotic passion for our teams. It doesn’t matter if these teams have brought an onslaught of disappointment to most of our lives. These are our teams and we live by them, and we die by them.

Now I’d say that if you were to put Philly sports fans on a spectrum, even the most mundane Philly fans would be considered some of the most passionate fans in other cities. So for the fans here in Philly that are at the extreme end of that spectrum? Well those are some of the most outrageous folks on planet Earth. They are some of the most legendary human beings to ever live, and I’m not even sure if we can consider them to be human. They’re more than human. They transcend time and space.

With so many legends residing in one fanbase, the competition is steep to determine who is the mightiest fan of them all. But I tried to anyway, so here’s a power ranking of the most iconic Eagles fans on god’s midnight green Earth.

Just Missed The Cut

EDP

I love EDP. I really do. But I’m just not sure if I’m able to say that EDP represents all Eagles fans. I love the passion and the man sweats a 50/50 mixture of green and gravy. But it would just feel wrong to hand over one of the top spots on this list to a guy who isn’t from Philly. So he deserves to be in the conversation for sure, but just misses the cut.

Shaun Young

Listen. The man is a staple when it comes to all-time Eagles fans. With that being said…I just don’t know how I feel about Shaun Young. To me it kind of seems like a lot of what he’s done is for himself. He’s a superfan, sure, and I’d never question his loyalty to the team. But at the end of the day, he’s a character. A legendary character, but a character nevertheless.

Subway Guy

It was such an unforgettable moment. We’ll be talking about the subway guy for as long as we live. You’ll be telling your grandchildren one day about how legendary those few weeks of the Super Bowl run were and subway guy will undoubtedly make an appearance in that story. And what this man represents is the energy that Philly had during that run. It was reckless, it was chaotic, it damn near almost killed us, but it was as legendary as it gets. The only issue is that I’m not sure how I feel about a guy taking an L like that making his way into the top 4 spots.

On The Bubble

Penn’s Dean of Admissions

What makes Eric Furda such a rising star among the ranks of iconic Eagles fans is the fact that neither he nor Penn have tried to downplay the fact that he was an absolute lunatic out there in the stands. I feel like in the culture and society we live in today, a guy like Eric Furda would be forced to make an apology for “not representing the University of Pennsylvania to the standards it deserves” or some shit like that. But both Eric Furda and UPenn were like “fuck yeah, man, this dude loves the Birds and the refs were sucking ass”. And on top of that, he just proves that Philly fans aren’t nearly the “scumbag filthy trash” that the rest of the nation would like to portray us as. Dean of Admissions at an Ivy League school. I have to imagine that’s a much more important job than whatever insurance plan you’re currently peddling.

Mask Guy

This one was really hard for me because at the beginning of the day, I had this dude in my top 4. There’s just something about this man that speaks to me. It’s kind of similar with the subway guy–this masked hero right here just symbolizes everything that was so magical about those couple of weeks from the NFC Championship Game to the Super Bowl. Let’s just be real with ourselves for a minute here. Any other time of the year you see a Thicc King like this going tarps off and wearing an Eagles mask, your initial thought it probably to get away from the psychopath before you get kidnapped and killed. But during that Super Bowl run? You’d see this man in the streets and invite him over to your home for a nice family dinner. If this were any other fanbase in the nation, he’d be right up there at the top. But these are Eagles fans we’re talking about. It’s the best of the best. And unfortunately, mask guy just got bumped.

Mount Rushmore

“Unlike Agholor”

This could certainly be a case of recency bias here but considering this man literally saved a couple of lives, he deserves a spot at the top. And he represents everything that makes Eagles fans, Eagles fans. It doesn’t matter what you have going on in your life, it all comes back around to the Birds. You could be getting married, you could be in court, you could be CATCHING BABIES BEING THROWN OUT OF A WINDOW OF A BUILDING THAT IS ON FIRE. None of it matters because your mind is constantly on the Eagles.

“Gooooooooooo Birds”

They say that courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear. And this right here? Well this was one of the most courageous “GOOOOO BIRDS” there ever was. The hero stared the opposition directly in the face and let out a rally cry so powerful that I’m convinced it played a legitimate role in the Eagles absolutely skull fucking the Vikings in the NFC Championship Game. We’re talking at least 5-10%. It’s Philly vs the World, and the World sure as shit doesn’t have an answer for the GOOOOOOO BIRDS kid.

“JEFF GARCIA, BABY, is our baby!!!!” 

The thing that makes Larry Poff so legendary is that he will always withstand the test of time. It doesn’t matter what era we’re talking about, Poff Daddy is always going to be one of the greats. When you think about the MJ vs LeBron debate, those who would argue for LeBron always feel the need to bring up the fact that Jordan was playing against a bunch of plumbers and used car salesmen. And when you think about Larry Poff, sure, he might have had his original run before the internet era and didn’t really have much competition to go up against. But even when his videos started popping back up in the Twitter era, he is still an elite legend. So pre-internet and now current time, Poff Dawg reigns supreme. That type of longevity has earned him the rights to the GOAT claim right now.

The Dunph Man

It may still be less than 24 hours before Dunph broke out onto the scene but in such a short amount of time, he has solidified his spot as a first ballot Hall of Famer. First of all–the man is completely captivating. You simply cannot take your eyes off of him. Mostly because that belly button is so enormous that I’m almost convinced it’s a miniature black hole that sucks your vision directly into the Phanatic’s beak. But he’s just a magnificent piece of walking art. Obviously the Phanatic tattoo is perfect. But the Philly skyline pre-Comcast buildings is glorious. The I-95 sign is perhaps the most thought-provoking display I’ve ever seen. The Ben Franklin Bridge is certainly a great touch. Though the greatest addition to this beautiful canvas has to be the carton of Arctic Splash, a Fishtown staple beverage that from the looks of our boy Dunph over here, he certainly enjoyed frequently.

But outside of how immaculate this specimen looks, it’s what is on the inside that truly matters and separates him from the rest of the pack. Because this man doesn’t just have an Eagles logo across his chest for show. He has it there because this man’s heart is a Philadelphia Eagle. So when it came time to making his way to Lambeau for this Thursday night game, he wasn’t going to take the easy way out and fly there. This legend hopped in his car and drove throughout the night.

Supernova. Only way to describe this man and his legacy that will last throughout the rest of time in Philly fandom.

P.S. – #1 worst fan ever.

P.P.S. – Santa deserved it.

@BarstoolJordie