How do you say ‘Dallas sucks’ in German? Just ask the Eagles’ growing fan base abroad.
Birds fans are known to be diehards. And that doesn’t just apply to Philadelphians.
BERLIN — It was after 2 a.m. on Monday and the Germans had work in a few hours. But six hours behind them on the East Coast, the Eagles had just eked out their messy season-opening win against the Patriots, and German-speaking Birds fans weren’t finished with their postgame takedowns.
“Hässlich,” several groaned on the fan Discord chat. Just ugly. “Komplett unverdient aber egal.” Completely undeserved but whatever. “Playcalling echt fragwürdig.” The playcalling was really questionable.
The big takeaway, though, didn’t need much translation: “Ein Win ist ein Win.” A win is a win.
Within the NFL’s meteoric rise in Europe over the last decade, Germany is now home to the largest overall fan base, edging past the U.K. last year with over 3.3 million avid fans.
Eagles Nation might not be the most popular in Deutschland. But Witold Pryjda, a journalist and vice president of Philadelphia Eagles Fans Germany, argued the few hundred fans are without a doubt the most animated.
“For many members, the appeal of the Eagles is the ‘no one likes us, we don’t care’ attitude,” he said.
Since they registered as a national club in 2018, the group has grown to 150 dues-paying members. But the total base is much larger than official members, with droves of online fans hailing from all over Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Homesick Philly area natives have also joined the group after moving abroad.
“I mean, look at me. This is the team I’ve dreamt of.”
Pryjda, 49, caught the green fever during a high school exchange program in Burlington County, N.J., where the team felt like “a religion.” Other German fans learned the culture from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reruns. For others, like Dennis Dietrich, the underdog narrative that defined the team’s historic 2017 season won them over.
“I mean, look at me,” Dietrich said, gesturing to his gauged ears, head-to-toe tattoos, and kelly green Jason Kelce jersey. “This is the team I’ve dreamt of.”
The 32-year-old would blend seamlessly into any bar in Upper Darby or Mayfair — but hours before Sunday’s season opener, he and a handful of other Birds fans gathered in a Berlin beer garden to talk with The Inquirer.
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“The storyline in 2017 was totally special for me,” Dietrich said. “I was making food and drinks for myself at home to watch the Super Bowl, and I was alone, but I was so [bleeping] hyped and happy.”
Fans have felt a little less lonesome in recent years, thanks to the bandwagon boom after Super Bowl LII.
The Facebook group for Birds fans in Germany grew from a few hundred a few years ago to nearly 1,400 members. Club president Carsten Möller hosts a podcast called “Birds of Jawnmany,” where he and other guests break down everything from training camp updates to recaps of each game.
Some Germans become apostles, too. Andre Baumbach, 33, converted his partner Patricia Leonhardt into a diehard fan, and the couple has already anointed their first child into the cult.
“It’s a Philly boy,” Leonhardt said, patting her eight-months-pregnant stomach.
Dietrich’s fandom has progressed to collecting rare memorabilia. He flashed pictures of display cases in his Berlin apartment, where he owns Rodney McLeod’s game-worn pants and signed helmets from Kelce, Fletcher Cox, and Jalen Hurts.
“I’m trying to build something like a fan cave, but it’s step by step,” Dietrich said. “It’s hard to get, especially kelly green helmets.”
Normal as this level of fan obsession might be in Philly, it’s a relatively new phenomenon that still turns heads in Germany. Some fans said they grew bored with soccer clubs and the NFL offered them another world to scratch their fandom itch.
Club leaders don’t doubt the fan base will evolve, especially with more for the German-speaking audience.
“There are German podcasts about the NFL itself, but there are none about Eagles,” said Möller.
“The market is huge and it’s exponentially growing,” Pryjda added, “but let’s say you don’t speak English that well and you want to hear about how Marcus Mariota has sucked at camp. There’s not a lot of info on that in German.”
The franchise, however, has its international goals set elsewhere — for now.
“No one else in our area – our circles of friends – they don’t give a [bleep] about this.”
NFL teams compete for international marketing rights, hoping to convert undecided fans as the sport’s popularity continues to soar in Europe. The Eagles last year secured rights in New Zealand, Australia, and Ghana, while five other teams have locked down the Germany market. (Then again, the Seattle Seahawks have not eyed Germany either, and yet have one of the largest bases of any NFL team.)
One of the biggest hurdles for European fans, regardless of language, is the time zone.
The Eagles’ run of prime-time games this season might be a good indicator of their rising stock, but it’s bad news for fans juggling work and family against the six-hour time difference. A Sunday game at 1 p.m. EST means that kickoff is at a reasonable 7 p.m. in Germany. A night game? They’ll be watching at home alone at 2 a.m. — which many still do.
Pryjda visited Philly for the first time last season to catch the Cowboys game at Lincoln Financial Field, but few others have made the trek. (In German, they have a few turns of phrase, but everyone understands “Dallas sucks” in English.)
About 50 club members plan to meet in Frankfurt for the Dolphins-Chiefs game in November. Tickets sold out in minutes, but droves of fans are going just for the rare NFL tailgate experience.
Some Birds fans meet in person at watch parties during the regular season, but many live far apart, so the community exists largely online. They trade memes, franchise news, and hot takes just like the rest of us.
“No one else in our area — our circles of friends — they don’t give a [bleep] about this,” Pryjda said. “But when we visit this Facebook page or Discord channel, that’s where we feel at home.”
“I like the fact that it’s small,” Dietrich said of the community. “When it’s small, you get to know the people a lot better.”
As the group posed for a photo in Berlin on Sunday, a man walked by and chirped at the green-clad Birds fans in an American accent: “Birds suck. Go Vikes!”
Pryjda clapped back without a pause.
“Go Birds!”