The final day of the NFL Draft in Philly was way less about team-building football decisions and more about a family-friendly carnival on the Ben Franklin Parkway. Thousands of kids roamed the grounds with their families, taking in the festivities while trying to stay out of the heat and humidity. Free yogurt and water filling stations were never more welcomed. (The $11 beers, maybe less so.)
Walking around the Parkway Saturday afternoon — and talking to 50 Cowboys fans to find out if they were actually from Dallas — it hit me: This place got weird. Day Three was a chance to see some former players and gawk at the weirdos dressed up like birds and tiny dogs dressed up like…the Birds.
Here are some shots of Saturday’s fun, plus a few of the thousands of social posts from Philly’s final draft day (final day this year, anyway).
The College Football Hall of Fame’s mascot was there taking photos with kids. His name is Fumbles. Of course it is.
This young Eagles fan was definitely not fumbling those balls, signed by Zach Ertz and…I’m going with Malcolm Jenkins. Two Eagles autographs is a good pull. She probably should have gotten a bag, though.
Brian Westbrook was also there Saturday, hanging out with fans and telling the hotel sponsor host that he’s sick of Dallas being good, and can’t wait until the Eagles bring a Lombardi trophy home to stick it to their division rivals.
This guy didn’t seem super excited by those comments.
This guy, a Patriots fan/Captain America Luchador wanna-be, was in line to take a photo with the Lombardi trophy. Or maybe it was the virtual reality simulator. Yeah, it was probably virtual reality.
Speaking of the Lombardi trophy, there it is. The next time it will be in Philly? Hopefully next year when the draft is back. It might be a bit longer before it’s here with the Eagles, though.
This was a fun moment, where NFL former wide receiver Torry Holt was pretending to throw bags of corn chips at people, asking them to throw up their hands. This went on for at least a minute before the fans caught wise that he was not going to throw them the bags. Also, guys, it’s a bag of chips. Do you want free stuff THAT bad?
This was adorbs.
Also adorbs. And yet, those free sunglasses actually have bottle openers at the end of each stem. So probably not safe for kids at all.
This couple literally spent five minutes trying to find the perfect selfie. First they took shots with the stage behind them, then they tried with facing the stage. One thing they didn’t try? Asking someone to take the photo for them.
This kid had someone else taking his photo and it was an ESPN cameraman. He posed and yelled and got in the way when his little sister was getting airtime. Then this happened:
Dad: “Tell the camera how much you love dinosaurs.”
Mom: “No! Tell them how much you love the Eagles.”
Dads are so dumb.
I’m not sure if this guy is the kid’s dad, but it was one of the oddest combinations of two people walking around Saturday. A fully decked out Washington fan with a fully decked out little Eagles fan who seemed pretty embarrassed with his elder partner.
Eagles fans have long thought it was cool to have random jerseys. None may be more random than Andy Harmon. He was No. 91, so why not just get a Fletcher Cox nameplate and correct this mistake once and for all?
Speaking of correcting a mistake, these jogger bros were out for a run on the Parkway Saturday, seemingly unaware the draft was even here. The Penn Relays was across the river, jogger bros!
This kid gets it.
So does this pup. Though I imagine it was easier to get the zip line harness on than that dog jersey.
When talking to Cowboys fans, many asked if I worked for the local paper. “No,” I said, “I work on the internet. You can read the story later today.” Sadly, I wasn’t giving out a special gift.
This guy thought he had the coolest hat at the draft. He was close.
I told you things got weird. Here are some other weird moment that were captured on social media. Yep, Philly Jesus was there baptizing people. No, I’m not joking.
Former CSN Philly host Colleen Wolfe was in town with NFL Network. Eagles fans shared some thoughts on the draft.
Uh, wrong bird, friend.
This baby is wearing a half Eagles half Giants bib. Be well, baby, your Sundays are going to suck.
No lie, the Eagles line was like four minutes long.
Okay, this last one was technically from Saturday night but I’m including it for this reason: I walked by several sets of cops doing literally nothing Saturday. Groups of six or more cops standing and talking, because there was nothing for them to do. That’s how well behaved most Philly fans were this week. So good, the cops were taking selfies.
