Bench pressing, shopping cart grills, and an appearance from Tailgate Ted. Eagles tailgaters came prepared.

On the verge of the Eagles making another Super Bowl appearance, fans waited in anticipation to watch them play the Washington Commanders for the NFC championship.

And as players prepared at Lincoln Financial Field, fans were preparing in the parking lots. Ahead of Sunday’s game, we walked around the tailgates for two hours and let’s just say we witnessed a lot.

From meals on wheels to bench pressing, here are the most fun and interesting things we found while tailgating with Eagles fans.

While some tailgates have taken the time to provide seating areas for guests, others have decided to just bring a bench — or in this case, a workout bench.

Williams Schaeffer, Dalton Kristiniak, and Craig Michelbacher — the creators behind the popular social media account The People’s Bench — were letting fans get a quick gym pump by benching 135 pounds in the parking lot.

“It’s just absolutely electric, as you can see,” Schaeffer said. “It gets the people fired up. We love getting people on the bench, it’s just a great atmosphere every week.”

The new tailgating tradition has been getting fans pumped up throughout the postseason, both literally and figuratively, making appearances the past three home games and attracting the attention of many, including former Eagles player Beau Allen and Philadelphia police officers.

“We want to keep doing it,” Michelbacher said. “We’re gonna let the ball keep rolling. We just love having fun and seeing people come out.”

They’ve been bringing the bench to different locations in Philly for four years but its popularity only began to rise this year. Some of the places they’ve made appearances include Marchiano’s Bakery and historic landmarks, including City Hall.

In a sea of Eagles green, a cluster of burgundy and gold could be seen shining through in both the M and N lots.

Washington Commanders fans filled lot N 10, listening to Washington themed remixes of iconic songs such as “It’s all about the Benjamins” — replacing the word Benjamins with Washington — and engaging in friendly trash talk with Eagles fans as they walked by. Among those fans was Tailgate Ted.

“I’m not missing this,” Ted said. “We haven’t had this in 33 years. I wanted a place where all of our fans could come together and be safe behind enemy lines. I would have done this myself, but honest to God there’s a target on my back because of what I do.”

Ted went viral on social media on the eve of the NFC championship game after delivering an inspiring speech to Commanders fans at their pep rally at Hard Rock Cafe on Market Street. Since then, he’s caught a lot of hate from Eagles fans.

“If I was 20 years younger, I probably would have commented back,” Ted said. “But at this point you need to move on. My mute list on X is longer than a CVS receipt at this point.”

Tailgate Ted is typically in charge of hosting the pep rallies for fans on the road, but Sunday’s duties went to Southern Delaware native Frank Miller. The 43-year-old Commanders fan sponsored the event with Coastal Bath Company. Miller was also at Saturday’s event at the Hard Rock Cafe where he witnessed Tailgate Ted’s viral speech.

“Ted is awesome,” Miller said. “They don’t get more loyal than that man. I don’t think people realize how much Ted and the Rally Captain do for our fan base. So big shout-out to them, much love. They hold it down for us.”

And throughout every tailgate, from lots C to M, fans were serving traditional meals or high-end cuisine such as camel. But ahead of Sunday’s game, one fan could be seen taking the tailgate on the road with a new invention — a shopping cart grill. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the chance to see this piece of art in person but thanks to the internet we were able to catch a glimpse on social media. If you’re the person in charge of this creation, please email me.

The shopping cart had three layers — the bottom was full of drinks such as Twisted Tea, the middle layer served as the burner, and the top layer was full of food. Fans seemed impressed with the creation.