Super Bowl news: Brandon Graham injury status; President Trump says something nice about Eagles; ESPN analysts flip their predictions

And that’s a wrap for Radio Row, the oddball Super Bowl media spectacle where product placement is king and so-called “Wednesday Guests” rule.

Late Friday afternoon, Hall G at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center seemed like a ghost town, with everyone from FanDuel to NBC Sports to ESPN Radio hustling to dismantle their elaborate sets. Not even Spike Eskin and the 94.1 WIP afternoon show stuck around Friday.

But a few guests remained.

Philadelphia and Kansas City’s major art museums have drawn up terms for a Super Bowl bet.

The prize of this wager: One 19th century French oil painting.

If the Eagles win the championship on Sunday, Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art has agreed to send The Croquet Party by Édouard Manet to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Mekhi Becton made his first playoff appearance this year after spending the beginning of his career with the New York Jets. Now, the starting right guard is bound for the Super Bowl.

"It's a blessing," Becton said.

Becton, 25, signed a one-year deal with the Eagles in free agency with the understanding that he could serve as a depth tackle. He had suited up at tackle for three seasons with the Jets, the team that drafted him 11th overall in the 2020 draft out of Louisville.

President Donald Trump praised some of the star players on the Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs in a post on Truth Social Friday, including Birds quarterback Jalen Hurts and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

"Two great Quarterbacks in this game. Also, an unbelievable running back, and the absolute best tight end in football (Ever!). Incredible coaching!" Trump wrote in the post, seemingly referring to Eagles powerhouse running back Saquon Barkley and Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce as well as Birds coach Nick Sirianni and Andy Reid, the Chiefs' head coach.

The president, who will be attending the Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans Sunday, has withheld any compliments for the Eagles organization since they clinched their NFC championship win. He ignored the team's riveting 55-23 victory over the Washington Commanders and instead celebrated the Chiefs' AFC win. When asked during a media availability Tuesday who he thinks will win the Super Bowl, Trump said: "I don’t want to say, but there’s a certain quarterback that seems to be a pretty good winner,” likely referring to Mahomes, who could lead the Chiefs to their third consecutive Super Bowl victory, an NFL first.

NEW ORLEANS — Jalen Hurts’ father compares his son’s competitive nature to a flame.

It was stoked from an early age and burned brightly well before he reached the NFL, in races up the stairs with his big brother, backyard football games against the older kids, and eventually the heat of the moment on a high school football field.

It’s the fiery side that the ever-stoic Eagles quarterback does not often show publicly, but one Averion Hurts Sr. can trace back to the sidelines in southeast Texas during his time coaching his son at Channelview High School a decade ago.

The New York Times recently ranked the 22 best pizza places in the U.S., and New Orleans, the home to alligator bites and po boys, is home to one of them: St. Pizza on Magazine Street in the Lower Garden District.

There’s a lot of good pizza in the world, and especially in Philadelphia. I’ve had a lot of it — my wife and I have a dorky pizza Instagram account that no one follows. I’m not a snob. Good pizza is good pizza, and there’s even a time and a place for bad pizza. I’m not above a late-night chain delivery.

St. Pizza, owned by Philly native Tony Biancosino, is good. Barstool’s Dave Portnoy posted a review from here yesterday and gave it a 7.8. Sounds about right, maybe deserves a little more.

We can’t speak for when exactly, but know that the Eagles' run of success over the past few years has influenced at least one daytime soap opera series — in a hilarious way. On Friday, the NFL on CBS Instagram account posted a clip from the popular longtime CBS soap The Young and the Restless that you could envision happening at a dinner table or gathering somewhere in the Greater Philadelphia area.

In the clip, the character Nick Newman, played by actor Joshua Morrow, is in an argument with his sister Phyllis Newman, played by actress Michelle Stafford.

The two fight over Nick being banned from any future gatherings due to his behavior during what sounds like a Super Bowl party two years ago.

NEW ORLEANS — C.J. Gardner-Johnson is typically a man of many words. But in the aftermath of the Eagles’ NFC championship win, his tears did the talking.

Two years after clinching a Super Bowl berth in his first stint with the Eagles, the 27-year-old found himself in the exact same position in his second go-around with the team. As the Eagles solidified their win over the Washington Commanders to punch their ticket to New Orleans, Gardner-Johnson became emotional, sharing a long embrace with Nick Sirianni on the sideline. Gardner-Johnson didn’t need to say a word to express his gratitude for his head coach.

“It makes everything so surreal when you can leave, come back, and go back to the same spot you were just at, especially with a guy who calls you and tells you, ‘Hey, [I] believe in you,’” Gardner-Johnson said.

NEW ORLEANS — Super Bowl week, the event and hysteria, is all over.

All that's left is the game.

The Eagles and Chiefs will hold their final practices Friday, and we'll get a final practice injury report later this afternoon, but both teams finished their media duties for the week on Thursday, and the NFL Honors ceremony Thursday night sort of capped off a mad dash of events and media madness.

As Northeast Philly continues to recover from Friday’s fatal plane crash, first responders and neighborhood families are invited to a Super Bowl pregame party Sunday afternoon at the Roosevelt Mall.

The event is set for 3:45 p.m. inside the LA Fitness at the mall, and will be hosted by State Rep. Jared Solomon and car dealership owner Gary Barbera.

“This accident shook all of us,” Solomon said in a statement. “The tremendous support of our first responders and those helping bring us back is overwhelming. This is a way for us to come together and be there for each other.”

When Philly’s youth choral ensembles and even the mayor are wagering bets on the Super Bowl, why should cheesesteak restaurants and breweries be left behind?

The South Philly 95-year-old cheesesteak institution Pat’s King of Steaks is ready for a face off with Joe's Kansas City Bar-B-Que, owned by Barbecue Hall of Famer Jeff Stehney. Unlike football, the rules for this wager are simple: the restaurant from the losing city will send the winning city eatery a selection of their signature offerings. One clause: There has to be enough for the restaurant to share with a local fire station.

“I grew up just blocks from where the Birds play and Pat’s has been a heartbeat of South Philadelphia since 1930 — we’ve got the spirit running through our kitchen and neighborhood — there’s no way we’re losing this bet,” Pat’s third-generation owner Frankie Olivieri said.

Saquon Barkley nearly had to cancel an important event in order to make Sunday’s Super Bowl – a daddy-daughter dance.

Luckily, the event was postponed to March when the Eagles running back will be able to attend.

“She said she definitely wants me to win the Super Bowl more now,” Barkley said earlier in the week, laughing.

Is the momentum drifting towards an Eagles Super Bowl upset? It is over at ESPN.

On Thursday, Mike Greenberg and the experts on ESPN’s Get Up picked the Chiefs to win at the Superdome on Sunday. But all it took was 24 hours for them to change their minds.

On Friday morning, Greenberg, Domonique Foxworth, and Jeff Saturday all flipped their picks, shifting from Chiefs’ red to Eagles’ green.

The Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl is not only a matchup of two of the great teams of the era but also a showdown between two cities with iconic beef-based local cuisine.

Philly Mayor Cherelle L. Parker placed a wager with Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas this morning on the Today show: If the Birds win, Lucas sends Parker some Kansas City barbecue. If the Chiefs pull off the three-peat, Parker will send Philly cheesesteaks to Lucas.

Separate from the bet, the mayors have also agreed to donate food to local hospitals in honor the frontline workers who will be working during the big game. Parker will be making a contribution to Temple University Hospital.

Another Eagles Super Bowl, and what do you know? Once again, Tom Brady wasn’t there in the end.

The greatest quarterback in NFL history/minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders/loser of Super Bowl LII to Nick Foles was supposed to be here Thursday afternoon to speak in-person about that ancillary role of his: color analyst on Fox. The network held its media day at the New Orleans Convention Center, and while Fox’s pregame-show analysts and hosts were happy to answer questions about the Eagles and the Chiefs and what to expect during the big game, Brady was a ghost. He didn’t attend the event.

Now, in fairness, the rest of the crew calling Super Bowl LIX for Fox — Kevin Burkhardt, Erin Andrews, and Tom Rinaldi — didn’t attend it, either. But then, if Fox wanted to keep Brady away from anyone who might ask a question or two that might be a little uncomfortable for him to answer, the best and least conspicuous way to do it would be to have three other people sit out the event, too. Even if those three other people are among the friendliest and most accessible people in sports media. Which those three other people are. But on Thursday, they and Brady happened to be tied up with “production timing issues,” according to Fox.

Despite not being present for media availability for the second consecutive day Thursday, Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter fully participated in practice Thursday afternoon, suggesting he is on track to play Sunday despite being limited Wednesday due to an illness.

Carter is among a few Eagles dealing with illnesses, but none of them missed practice or was limited due to an illness Thursday when the Eagles again practiced at Ochsner Sports Performance Center in Metairie.

Three Eagles were limited with injuries: Brandon Graham (elbow), DeVonta Smith (hamstring), and reserve offensive lineman Nick Gates (groin).

No one can stop the tush push. Not even Neil deGrasse Tyson.

NFL Network host Kyle Brandt recently visited with the famed astrophysicist to determine if science could provide a way to stop the Eagles’ unstoppable short-yardage play. 

“I don’t know if I have a counter to it, but I can explain definitely why it works,” Tyson said. 

DeVonta Smith is just 6 feet tall and weighs just 170 pounds.

He’s from Amite City, La., a town of just 4,000 about 100 miles northwest of New Orleans. He’s fast, but he doesn’t have Tyreek Hill’s speed. However, ever since high school Smith has been a star. He’s one of the better route-runners in the NFL and, despite his size, he’s a superior run-blocker.

How? Relentless drive. Attention to detail.

A lot of Philly fans have strong opinions about Joe Buck, but the ESPN announcer might win a few over with his prediction on who will win the Super Bowl.

Buck won’t be in the booth Sunday to call the game between the Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs — he’ll be home watching with his family, where he’ll join all Philly fans in rooting for the Birds.

Buck’s final score prediction: Eagles 28, Chiefs 25.

The long wait finally ended for Eric Allen on a week when the Eagles, the team that drafted him, are playing in the Super Bowl.

The former Eagles cornerback, eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame longer than the other 14 modern-era finalists for the 2025 class, was announced as part of a four-player class during the NFL Honors ceremony Thursday night.

Allen, who was in his 19th year of eligibility, was a finalist for the second consecutive season. The other three players in the 2025 class are Jared Allen, Antonio Gates, and Sterling Sharpe.

Saquon Barkley was named offensive player of the year by The Associated Press on Thursday, further cementing his first season with the Eagles into NFL history.

The 27-year-old was announced as the winner at NFL Honors, but wasn’t in attendance as the Eagles prepare for the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

The other finalists for the award finishing behind Barkley in the voting were Lamar Jackson, Ja’Marr Chase, Derrick Henry, and Joe Burrow. Barkley received 35 first-place votes to Jackson’s 12.