It is Valentine’s Day. Love is in the air. And even if things have not been ideal recently in the Philly Sports world, we wanted to talk about the things we love today in Philly sports. Specifically, our most beloved Philly Athletes. So for our Instagram, we asked all of the on-air staff which Philly athlete they love the most.
What was interesting is how many of them went for a Phillies player. There were 3 Chase Utleys, two Jimmy Rollins, along with a Roy Halladay, a Ryan Howard, and a Carlos Ruiz. Only 1 person picked a Sixers player, and two went the Eagles route. One Flyer got an honorable mention but was not the final pick. You can say it is because the 2008 Phillies won it all, but so did the Eagles in 2017. Only 1 player from that team made the list. And as one commenter on our Instagram immediately pointed out, nobody picked B-Dawk or Jason Kelce.
So what is it about that 2008 team that made us love them so much? Out of the 11 answers, 7 played for that team. Another joined the team two years later. And one of us named both of their pets after players on that 2008 team, J-Roll and Cat Burrell. It seems like at least among our staff, our heart is with that Phillies team still.
Find out who each host picked below. The full video from our Instagram can be found at the bottom of the page.
Here are the most beloved Philly Athletes for every Fanatic host:
Tyrone Johnson- Charles Barkley
“My most beloved Philly athlete ever is Charles Barkley. By a pretty wide margin. AI is maybe 2nd or 3rd. But yea, it is definitely Barkley.”
Pat Egan- Jimmy Rollins
“Alright, Dawkins immediately came to mind. But I named my dog J-Roll, after Jimmy Rollins. I’m a huge Phillies fan. And I am very passionate about the fact he is a Hall of Famer.”
Andrew Salciunas- Carlos Ruiz
“The number 1 answer is Nick Foles. But I am not going to do that. Let’s go with Chooch. I loved Chooch. He was awesome, great catcher.”
Jen Scordo- Donovan McNabb
“This was more difficult than I thought it was going to be. My first thought went to Allen Iverson since he was the first Philly player when I was still living in Georgia I fully attached myself to. But then I got here, and McNabb was playing. So he is probably it. Though you know I love Joel Embiid, he is my best friend. And wait isn’t there a guy we work with who played pro sports? Ricky Bottalico?”
Ricky Bottalico- Jimmy Rollins
“I gotta go with Jimmy Rollins. I got to play with Jimmy in his younger days. Quite frankly I believe he belongs in the Hall of Fame. He will definitely be in the Wall of Fame.”
Tom Alvord- Chase Utley
“I was very close to picking Bryce Harper. I was bullied out of it by the rest of the Fanatic staff. If he wins a World Series, I think he goes to number 1. But I’ll have to say Chase Utley is my favorite.”
Ray Dunne- Ryan Howard
“Ryan Howard. I love home runs. Enough said.”
John Kincade- Nick Foles
“It comes down between two. They both gave me a championship. I am going to go with Nick Foles. But man I wanted to say Jimmy Rollins.”
Connor Thomas- Roy halladay
“Number 1 all-time for me has to be Roy Halladay. He was great. He was a great preparer. He was just class the whole way”
Bob Cooney- Chase Utley
“Now I am older than a lot of you looking at this right now. So most beloved Philly athlete of All-Time, is probably Bernie Parent. But I’ll take it closer to your guy’s age, and I will say during your guy’s time, Chase Utley. Because you are the man.”
