One year in Philadelphia was all it took to lure Bryce Harper away from the dark side. The 2015 National League MVP has jumped on the Eagles’ bandwagon.
Harper, a lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan, announced he was joining the Bird Gang on Episode 6 of Lane Johnson’s “Outside the Lane” Instagram Live show. Not only that, the Philadelphia Phillies outfielder vowed that if Major League Baseball doesn’t have a season he may be interested in playing for the Eagles in 2020. This stands to be the weirdest sports season in history.
“If baseball doesn’t come back I’ll go play for the Eagles,” Harper joked.
The Las Vegas native elaborated on a potential football career by telling Johnson he played the sport up until his freshman year of high school. Interestingly enough, Harper lined up at both outside linebacker and fullback, two positions of need right now for the Eagles.
“I lined up kind of like Lawrence Taylor on the outside and I rushed [the quarterback] a little bit and I dropped back a little bit in coverage, too,” Harper said, noting that he also played basketball. “Football was my first love growing up. I played all the way up to my freshman year. I loved the Friday nights and coming out of the tunnel and loving that rah-rah, let’s go mentality.”
But the football culture paled in comparison to the baseball one in Nevada. Obviously, the six-time All-Star outfielder made the permanent switch to baseball and everything worked out for the best. The vision of Harper terrorizing the Cowboys’ offensive line and chasing down Dak Prescott is fun to think about.
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Harper Renounces Cowboys Allegiance on Instagram
The 27-year-old has never been shy about his Cowboys fandom over the years. He drew the ire of Nationals fans when he first arrived in Washington, D.C. after he was spotted wearing a Cowboys hat at a UFC fight. In 2017, Harper told the Washington Post that he started rooting for Dallas when he was five years old.
“I wear it every day,” Harper said about wearing his Cowboys hat. “I’ve always been a Cowboy fan since I was 5 years old. I’m a Duke fan, I’m a Laker fan. I mean, I’m from Vegas, I’ll gamble on the best every single day. That’s what I do.”
Harper’s no longer a Cowboys fan, confirmed.
Until now. Harper was spotted wearing an old-school Eagles hoodie on May 2, 2019, and didn’t apologize for it. Last week, the face of the franchise for the Phillies told Johnson that he was officially an Eagles fan. Harper had renounced his Cowboys fandom for life.
“I’m Eagles through and through, kid,” Harper said. “That’s it. Changed my ways. Changed my ways, man. I got into Philly, man, and you can’t do it [cheer for the Cowboys]. … Seeing the way you guys play, and the way you go about it every single week, just like the Sixers or anybody else, I couldn’t imagine walking in somewhere and disrespecting you guys. No, I’m serious, as players, I couldn’t do it.”
Harper mentioned how the feeling was different than what he experienced in Washington. The fans are more passionate in Philly and the franchise is more committed to winning. It’s even a different feeling from the atmosphere surrounding the Phillies.
“You guys are the Philadelphia friggin’ Eagles,” Harper told Johnson. “It’s a lot different than the Phillies. And I can say that. I feel like the fans are so into you guys, and they are into us as well, but it’s the Eagles, bro. It’s life and death every single week.”
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Phillies MVP Wants to Play for Eagles, Renounces Cowboys Allegiance