When you live in Philadelphia, one thing is certain. When the Eagles are good — the City is full of excitement. Former Governor Ed Rendell once said that after an Eagles win you could raise taxes in the City that week and no one would notice. On the other end of the spectrum — when the Eagles are bad — well let’s just say that the mood is less than brotherly love.
It was during one of these losing campaigns that I saw them for the first time during an Eagles with my Dad in the late 1990s at Veteran Stadium. Four instrument-playing-sunglasses-smiling-ZZ Top-covering-like figures perfectly delivering a rendition the Eagles fight song. My Dad asked me if I knew that the Eagles had chant, or a fight song, or a Pep Band. In fact, I was 0–3.
Last week — it was announced that 2025 will begin without the Pep Band that has played the Philadelphia Fight song for the past some thirty years. In 1997 and 1998 — they even headlined an initiative called “Learn Your Fight Song.” The combination of Bobby Mansure, Brian Saunders, Bruce Mulford, and Anthony “Skull” DiMeo had the honor to lead the 2018 Eagles Championship Parade, played birthdays, anniversaries, and even serenaded over 400 couples on the day of their nuptials.
By the early 1940’s — the Eagles needed a way to energize their fanbase. Philadelphia would have to endure a decade before the team had a winning season and fifteen years before the Eagles would win a World Championship in the city reminiscent of the rushing ability of the 1926 Frankford Yellow Jackets almost 20 years earlier.
At some point during those lean World War II years of the Eagles — a chant emanated from the stands spelling out a Wheel of Fortune-like letter-extravaganza of our Philadelphia football team. Then in the 1950s — both Roger Courtland and Charles Borrelli joined to perfect the Eagles Fight Song that was performed at Eagles Games courtesy of the Philadelphia Eagles Sounds of Brass. The entertainment included over 150 musicians and was accompanied by dancers.
Then the catchy tune was forgotten until it saw a rebirth thanks to the Eagles Pep Band in the late 1990s. As the Eagles ascended into relevance again in the early 2000s — the tune caught on once again. Today — the Eagles Fight Song is one of the most recognizable in sports across the country. Over the decades — I continued to see the Eagles Pep Band around Philly. I have to admit in the fourth quarter as my electrolytes dropped — I may have accidentally yelled out a chant resembling E-L-G-S-E-S.
Look – I’ve got it down now.
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