Every year, for their end of summer road trip, the Phillies have a themed dress code.
Two years ago, they all donned some really flamboyant and dapper business suits.
You probably remember last year quite well, as it led to hundreds of these FOCO overalls being sold in time for fans to wear them in the stands during the playoffs.
Mr 300 #bryceharper wearing the #phillies overalls hey @foco this is a bobble head in the making. pic.twitter.com/YTotwjP6mj
This year, they won't be a fashion trend for the fans, but it was an interesting concept, nevertheless.
This time, with the NFL season slated to kick off tonight, the Phillies decided that everyone was going to wear a football jersey on the plane. We haven't seen any photos yet. I was told by someone in the clubhouse that a bunch were taken of them getting on the bus, but that there was not a group shot taken.
My guess is the Phillies social media team is saving them for tomorrow as kind of a "Go Birds" thing for the opener.
And if that's the case, well, you might not see everybody.
That's because not everyone wore Eagles colors.
"I'm not really a football guy," Tanner Banks told me as he showed off his Jalen Hurts jersey that he had one of the clubhouse guys run and grab for him from the team store. "But I do know that there are few things that you always have to have ready to go when you travel though, a couple suits, a Canadian tuxedo, and an NFL jersey."
Both Edmundo Sosa and Johan Rojas wore Devonta Smith jerseys, although Sosa seemed to know about the player he was repping than Rojas.
"The receiver, the skinny guy," Sosa said when I asked. I knew who he was talking about.
"Smith. No. 6," Rojas said with a shrug.
Hey, it's the thought that counts.
I didn't get to see who Byrce Harper, Trea Turner or J.T. Realmuto picked.
Realmuto is from Oklahoma - and was a quarterback in high school, so I can see him riding with Jalen.
Turner is from Southeastern Florida, so he's probably a long-suffering Dolphins fan and they pretty much stunk when he was in high school, although a throwback Reggie Bush would have been a winner.
As for Harper, since he is the ultimate Philly sports panderer, you know he's either rolling with Hurts, or maybe he whips out a Jason Kelce throwback. Or maybe he has a Swoop shirt. Wait, no. That might piss off his best friend, the Phanatic.
The trip coincided with their internal fantasy football draft, which the guys held Monday night in Toronto after a round of golf. If you recall, the draft order was determined by a closet-to-the-pin competition at Citizens Bank Park.
Phillies deciding their Fantasy Football draft order 👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽👌🏽#Golf #FantasyFootball
pic.twitter.com/9Jw1bMLPsO
Realmuto won the first overall pick, which considering how good a golfer he is, shouldn't surprise anyone.
And the fantasy league is a bit high stakes, as you would imagine with professional athletes.
Just ask the league's commissioner:
The winner of the Phillies fantasy football league wins $31k pic.twitter.com/6albhq4vYu
Garrett Stubbs was one of the guys who went with an Eagles jersey. But he took it to a new level, rocking a Jake Elliott, kelly green.
"The way I see it, catchers catch 150 balls a game, but as soon as we miss one, we get booed," Stubbs said. "Kickers make dozens of kicks, but as soon as they miss one, they get booed. So, we're kind of in the same boat."
He's not wrong.
The best Eagles jersey story though clearly belongs to Carlos Estevez.
The newish Phillies closer is a big guy. He's 6-foot-6. If he wasn't such a joyful fellow, his appearance could seem intimidating.
So, I asked him what jersey he was wearing, he said it was Hurts, but there was a bit of a disappointment in his response.
Why so glum, chum?
"It was the only one they had in my size," he said. "I was hoping to get one of the bigger guys."
I suggested a couple linemen.
"Any of them with two numbers," he said, hinting what a lot of big guys always believe - that a solo number just doesn't look right on a big guy. "But I'll take what I could get."
It's not just the players either. Even the manager and coaches got in on the act with the NFL jerseys.
Rob Thomson decided to roll with a Brian Dawkins throwback, which is classic, if not predictable. I jokingly asked him why he wouldn't wear a Toronto Argonauts jersey. He said, "I never watched Canadian Football. It was always the NFL."
So was he a Buffalo Bills fan growing up since Toronto is a little over an hour away?
"Nope," he said. "Detroit Lions."
I said, "Then you're wearing the wrong No. 20. Barry Sanders!"
He just chuckled and walked away.
Yet, there were several brave souls to not don the Eagles green.
Pitching coach Caleb Cotham, a native Tennessean and graduate of Vanderbilt University was going to go with a Tennessee Titans Eddie George jersey - especially since there's a Philly connection with George being from the area, but he decided to go even more old school.
"I always loved the Houston Oilers jerseys and since they are part of the Titans history, figured I'd go with one of them," he said. "I was debating between Warren Moon and Earl Campbell."
He chose Campbell.
That might have been the best non-Eagles choice, although Kyle Schwarber gave him a run for his money.
"Growing up in Ohio I was a big Bengals fan," Schwarber said. "I could have gone with Joe Burrow or Tee Higgins, but I thought, screw it, I'm going with a throwback Icky Woods."
Admit it, you now want to see him do the Icky Shuffle as he crosses home plate after a home run.
The Phillies are wearing NFL jerseys on the plane when they leave tonight for their road trip to Toronto and Miami. I'm sure there'll be plenty of photos later on here. But here's a small sample of guys I spoke to directly about their jersey choices. You might see a story about…
Weston Wilson had a Chad Johnson Bengals jersey and Jeff Hoffman was rocking a Colts Marvin Harrison jersey.
"It made sense," he said. "I grew up a Colts fan because my dad was a Colts fan and Marvin is from Philly, so..."
Fair enough.
Both Zack Wheeler and Brandon Marsh grew up in Georgia. Wheeler whipped out a black, Falcons Deion Sanders jersey and Brandon Marsh had a red Michael Vick fit.
I mean, what did you expect? Marsh is a dawg, after all.
Max Lazar and Nick Castellanos both had Dolphins gear. Lazar had a Jalen Ramsey No.5 but Castellanos was repping the franchise quarterback.
"It definitely feels like October's around the corner." 👀 pic.twitter.com/g9r0VShPCh
Thats a Tua Tagovailoa jersey, in case you couldn't tell.
Taijuan Walker grew up in Louisiana, so of course, he's a Saints fan. He had a Ricky Williams throwback. When I asked him if he was familiar with Williams' connection to Philadelphia, he was unaware. So I told him the whole story - about WIP and the Dirty 30 and booing Donovan McNabb.
Hell, I was the on-site WIP Producer back then and was the person who McNabb and his handlers told he was declining to do an interview with the station from the draft room at Madison Square Garden. So, I had more intimate details about the day. Walker sat there taking it all in.
Considering how things have gone for Walker lately, he paused for a moment in thought. Then finally said, "Well, the fans had to be happy because McNabb was a great player, right?"
Oh, Tai. Maybe we'll take time for another lesson on Philadelphia fans when you guys get back.
(Bryce Harper image at top of article via @Phillies)
