Philly, a city of underdogs, finds itself in a strange place with the Eagles as playoff favorites

As Jason Kelce stood at the Art Museum during the Eagles’ 2018 Super Bowl parade and delivered a rousing speech that hit so hard it shook Philadelphians to their very marrow, he artfully wove his narrative around a single thread.

It’s a thread that ties Philadelphia to its past, binds Philadelphians to each other, and one that goes to the very core of our identity as sports fans and as a city.

“We were a bunch of underdogs. And you know what an underdog is? It’s a hungry dog,” Kelce said. “... Any of you know who the biggest underdog is? It’s y’all, Philadelphia.”

From serving as the birthplace of a revolution launched by rebellious traitors, to continually being compared with New York City and D.C., Philadelphians have long viewed themselves as underdogs. And we like it that way.

Doubt us? Go ahead. Underestimate us? Find out what happens. Don’t like us? We don’t care.

During the Eagles’ 2018 Super Bowl run, the city fully embraced its underdog persona. There were underdog German shepherd masks, underdog shirts, even an underdog beer. And last year, shortly after the underdog Phillies lost their unexpected World Series run, Kelce launched his Underdog Philadelphia apparel line.

“Underdog embodies the city of Philadelphia. It’s a mentality,” Kelce said at the release party.

But as the Eagles head into the playoffs against the Giants this weekend as the NFC’s No. 1 seed with a 14-3 regular-season record and home-field advantage, they’re the favorite to win.

It’s a strange place for Philly to find itself — on top, with the odds in our favor. And we are feeling all kinds of ways about it.

Over the last few months, I’ve checked in with Eagles fans on Twitter to see how they’re doing with their team being top dogs instead of underdogs. Responses included:

“Very worried”

“Awesome!”

“Cautiously optimistic”

“It’s SO strange!”

“Precarious. like it could go at any time.”

“Frankly, I feel it is owed to me.”

And: “This is insufferable!”

Why does it feel so weird for us to be the favorite? Can — and should — we finally shed our underdog mentality, or is it so ingrained in Philly that to do so would be to tear at the very fabric of the city itself?

Joel Fish, a Philadelphia native and director of the Center for Sports Psychology in Center City, said he wasn’t surprised some Philly fans feel nervous with their team ranked No. 1.

“We have a history of coming close and we have a history of not being able to get to the finish line, if you will,” he said. “If I put my psychology cap on, that makes us very cautious about being a favorite or allowing ourselves to dream the dream.”

Fans under 30 — who witnessed the Phillies’ 2008 World Series win and the Eagles’ 2018 Super Bowl win — haven’t experienced the same level of disappointment as their ancestors. But Fish suggests stories are told here from one generation of sports fan to the next that warn us things can always go very wrong, very quickly.

“In the same way there’s an oral tradition in Philadelphia about saying Dallas sucks, there’s an oral tradition that gets passed down that keeps up that waiting-for-the-other-shoe-to-drop attitude,” he said.

The Eagles’ success has also set expectations so high, Fish said, that if they don’t win the Super Bowl the entire season could be perceived as a disappointment.

“That’s why we’re getting a mixture of excitement and a lot of anxiety,” he said. “Whenever you raise your expectations to Super Bowl or bust, the crash is longer when you don’t achieve your goals.”

Throughout his career, Fish has polled hundreds of pro athletes and found roughly 75% would rather be considered underdogs than favorites.

“The number-one reason was that there’s nothing to lose,” he said. “It’s easier to go out there and just play and your natural talent is likely to come out.”

The great ones, however, embrace being the favorite, which is exactly what Fish said he’s seen the Eagles do all season.

“You have great leaders on this team who really communicate a bring-it-on-why-not-us mentality,” he said. “The mantra has been consistent among the team leaders: ‘It’s about us, not them. If we play to our ability and our standard of excellence, we can beat everybody.’”

While being underdogs is a part of the city’s identity (and one we take great pride in), that mentality doesn’t fit every team, Fish said, and if you force it, it can feel disingenuous. He suggests Eagles fans embrace being the favorite this postseason.

For logical fans, the statistics and analytics support that the Eagles are No. 1 and they’re here for a reason. But most of us are not logical fans, Fish said.

Those of us who are emotional fans should take the risk of believing, embrace being No. 1, and practice positive what-ifs (”What if we win it all?”) instead of negative ones (”What if Jalen Hurts is abducted by aliens?”).

“That’s how — win, lose, or draw — you enjoy the experience the most,” Fish said. “The highs may be high and the lows may be low, but we’re all in this together.”

Longtime Eagles superfan Lamont “Monty G” Anderson is among the fans who’ve fully embraced the team’s success (”I feel like Buzz Lightyear, to infinity and beyond!”) and are all-in for a second Super Bowl win.

“We don’t have to accept being underdogs. We don’t have to worry about people doubting. We just have to show why we’re No. 1,” Anderson said. “Then we can sit back and bark like dogs because we did it.”