PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Eagles superfan Giovanni Hamilton is just days away from living out a dream. Not only is the 15-year-old podcaster going to be at Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Arizona, but he earned a press pass as well thanks to the connections he has made over the past three to four years.
“I was shaking,” Hamilton said of what he felt when he found out he landed a credential. “Just to think that after the game I’m gonna be able to talk to Nick Sirianni and talk to Jalen Hurts. It’s gonna be awesome.”
Sunday’s game, and postgame access, will be another accomplishment in Hamilton’s life that has come after much adversity. It will be a lifelong memory forged through his love of this sport.
Hamilton has a rare genetic condition called Schwartz-Jampel syndrome. It has led to over 20 surgeries – with more to come – and physical limitations. And unfortunately, he has been bullied along the way as well.
“I’m always the black sheep in every scenario,” Hamilton told KYW Newsradio with his mother, Shannon Algarin, sitting next to him. “I remember when I was little and I used to have to use a wheelchair to get around, I would just kind of sit by myself at recess because nobody wants to play with the kid in the wheelchair because, you know, they’re the weird kid.”
But, then came football.
“I remember one day I was outside at recess and my principal came with a football and kind of just tossed me the ball and we’re playing catch and then I went home and I was like, ‘I really liked this experience. I want to start watching the NFL,” he said.
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Luckily for Hamilton, his family liked watching the NFL too. In 2016 – former Eagle Carson Wentz’s rookie season – Hamilton started paying attention. Then came the Super Bowl-winning 2017 season in which Wentz was playing at an MVP level, but suffered a severe ACL injury in December. It ended his season and kept him out in the early parts of the following year.
“To see him go through that injury and get through it was kind of really good for me with all my surgeries,” Hamilton said. “I’ve had close to 25 surgeries in my life. And to see him get through that was really awesome. And then I just wanted to start talking about it and people really like listening to me talk about football.”
Hamilton started gaining public notoriety during Training Camp 2019 when he met Wentz and emotionally called him his hero.
Since then, he started podcasting – now hosting “The Giovanni Show Podcast.” Hamilton has interviewed players and also landed himself as a guest on national sports shows.
And while so much hate and nastiness exists in the world – especially the Internet – Hamilton has always shown dignity, kindness, and grace. When Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott suffered a severe ankle injury in 2020, Hamilton taped a well-wish for Prescott that went viral. When the Eagles benched Wentz in 2020, he posted a video to Twitter reiterating Wentz was his hero. While countless Eagles fans were bashing Wentz, Hamilton remained supportive – as he has always done for anyone who puts on the jersey of the team he loves.
Hamilton can relate to those who have been the recipient of mean remarks. For some inexplicable reason, he has been bullied. So, Hamilton says he uses his podcast to advocate for anti-bullying.
“[Podcasting] just gives me an outlet to talk not only about sports, but about real-life problems,” he said. “Like I just did an anti-bullying podcast and to have NFL players on their retired players, broadcasters on there to talk about bullying was just something really special to me because I've battled my fair share of that. And I know that there's a lot of people who could use something like that.”
So, how did this charismatic, resilient kid from Indianapolis – formally Pennsylvania – manage to punch his ticket to Arizona?
First, he crowdfunded $18,000 so he and his mother could go to the game.
Then, he concocted a plan to get a media pass for his podcast, by slipping his way into the suitcase of Eagles left tackle Jordan Mailata. While that is not going to happen, that video got the attention of NFL Network host Rich Eisen – who Hamilton has been a guest of on television.
Once Hamilton got the credential, former Eagles tight end Zach Ertz hooked up Hamilton’s siblings – Dominic, 17, and Guiliana, 11, with tickets to the game as well. This is extra special because Dominic is about to go into the military.
In addition to all this, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay made sure Hamitlon’s family had a hotel to stay in.
The plan is for Hamilton to sit with his family before heading to the postgame press conferences.
“I want to be in the stands for sure,” he said. “Just being in the environment with all my people.”
He is predicting a 41-13 Eagles win.
And this dream is about to be fulfilled because Hamilton found something he loves, something he relates to. His mother, Algarin, is certainly proud.
“When Giovanni told us he wanted to start his podcast three years ago we weren't sure if anyone would really want to listen,” she said. “And I worried for him in that, but I also knew that he was built for this, that he was made for this business, and that if he wanted it, he would work hard to get it. And to see not only people embrace him for his messaging and embrace him for the work that he's putting in, but to believe in him enough to send him to the Super Bowl.”
She says Hamilton no longer uses his walker – crediting knee and hip surgeries. He needs eye and dental surgeries on his jaw, so he has more adversity ahead of him to overcome.
“But we’re just trucking along,” Algarin said, “and everything’s going well.”
Hamilton says football pushes him through the adversity.
“I'm going into surgery, I'm watching highlights, I come out of surgery, I'm watching highlights,” he said. “It's just always been kind of a coping mechanism for me to watch football and something that really comforts me in the hospital.”
Giovanni Hamilton. Football. The Eagles. The Super Bowl – a perfect combination.