PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Brandon Winston is a Philadelphian by heart, even if he’s never lived in the area.
The 31-year-old father of two became an Eagles fan in his native city Martinsburg, West Virginia in the early 2000s when Donovan McNabb was entering his prime.
“I’ve been hooked ever since…How do you not like the Eagles?” said Winston, who lives three and a half hours away. “Like there’s really no other option.”
Winston, though, is on an island — in the territory of Commanders, Ravens and Steelers fans. His stepfather, who is from Philadelphia, likes the Eagles, but his mother and father are Cowboys fans, which makes for competitive family gatherings.
Despite his lack of ties to the region, Winston — a third shift worker at a chemical manufacturing company — has remained loyal to the Birds.
He and his wife have taken their family to the Linc. Their Goldendoodle is named Philly. And his swag collection rivals anyone’s in the 215 — with over two dozen jerseys, some of them framed, including a Super Bowl LII edition Malcolm Jenkins, a Super Bowl LVII A.J. Brown, and his favorite, a Black uni of Jason Kelce.
And he is often on the Eagles app, keeping up the news of his favorite team.
That’s where he was a few weeks ago when he stumbled into a digital goldmine – or, better yet: a Kelly green mine.
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Since 1996, the Eagles have worn midnight green. They switched early in Jeffrey Lurie’s tenure as owner away from Kelly green, which had been the team’s primary color dating back generations – from the 1960 NFL Champs to the ‘80s and ‘90s Randall Cunningham, Reggie White, Jerome Brown era. The color became synonymous with Buddy Ryan defenses tormenting quarterbacks, with the eagle flapping its wings on players’ sleeves complimented by silver pants.
Despite the team’s track-record of success in midnight green, including its first Super Bowl win, fans have clamored for years for a return to Kelly green pastures.
Lurie heard them and expressed an interest for that to happen on a part-time basis. The door opened when the NFL passed a rule allowing alternate helmets. The organization followed through on its word to bring back the full Kelly green glory for the 2023 season.
Enter Brandon Winston.
How a link supposedly for recycling turned into the leak of the off-season
Last year was the first time Winston attended Eagles games in-person — a phenomenal experience.
This year, on July 29, he was on the Eagles app, preparing to get tickets for the upcoming season, and happened to come across a link called “Go Green.”
He thought it would be about the team’s sustainability efforts, so he clicked on it.
“I’m like, ‘This is crazy. This is what ‘Go Green’ means?’ It doesn’t mean anything about recycling. It’s these Kelly green jerseys,’” said Winston. “I immediately screenshotted it.”
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Winston had access to photos of the team’s current stars wearing the new jerseys seemingly before anyone else.
“To my amazement, I just happened to be the first fan to see them publicly,” he said.
He posted them to social media — his very seldom used Twitter account and to an Eagles fan group on Facebook. He wanted to interact and celebrate with fellow Eagles fans.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/eaglespositivefangroup/permalink/1334846740454851/
Inadvertently, he broke a major story. His photos went viral. Media outlets in Philadelphia started reaching out to him.
The Eagles had been teasing their arrival for days and people were anticipating the release to be July 31.
Instead, Winston had them circulating on the net days early and the Eagles digital team had to play catch-up.
https://twitter.com/Eagles/status/1685446338895364096
The jerseys went on sale Monday morning as planned, with throngs of people lined up and tailgating in the wee hours of the morning outside the Eagles Pro Shop at Lincoln Financial Field. The response was incredible. The energy was as expected. It very likely would’ve been that way no matter the leak. But, it’s hard to say Winston didn’t add to the excitement.
Remorse from a diehard
Now, Winston can’t help but feel regret. He didn’t want to scoop his favorite team. He didn’t want an employee of his beloved Birds to be reprimanded for any potential mistake of those photos being public.
“From the bottom of my heart I do [regret leaking them] because that’s hard work…” Winston said. “Just hope I didn’t get anyone in trouble.”
Winston says he made multiple attempts to reach out to the Eagles to apologize.
“I’m a diehard fan,” said Winston, “but at the end of the day, I’m a hard working man, so I understand what it is to have a job.”
The Eagles organization is aware of his apology and it expresses appreciation for his support.
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Regret aside, Winston thinks the jerseys are perfect. He is looking forward to purchasing one when he and his wife come to the home opener Sept.14 against the Vikings.
Winston says he tried to buy a jersey online after they went on sale, but was unable to — an issue other fans ran into because of the high demand. He also plans on attending a couple other games this season, including one with his daughter for her birthday in December.
He is also confident his Eagles can repeat as NFC Champions, and this year take it one step further — even with a much tougher regular season schedule.
“I don’t see no other outcome than us winning that Lombardi in Las Vegas this year,” said Winston. “Rematch — Rocky II as I’ve been telling everybody. Rocky didn’t win [in the first movie.] He won Rocky II and it was beautiful.”
If that day comes, Winston will be shouting from the mountaintops of the Mountain State, cheering from I-81 to be heard on I-95.
“Everything that they’ve done for me over the years,” he said, “I’m just a guy from West Virginia who loves the Eagles.”
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