"The National Foodball League" Project: Philadelphia

by Mike Lunsford, Editor-In-Cheesesteak for GGR

Now you know how it all started: being called out for the hypocrisy of renaming any Washington Football Team a virtuous name but loving the idea of redesigning sport team logos. Plus, I was probably hungry. I feel like in quarantine there are no meals, it’s just a constant state of grazing for whatever food you have in the house. Dinner for breakfast, lunch at 10am, supper is those hot dogs cut to look like octopi, dinner is two french bread pizzas used as bread with Spam, macaroni & cheese, potato chips and gravy between in what I call “the Apocalypsewich (trademark pending).” Heaven help you if you start looking for late night snacks. Needless to say, food is not just on my mind all the time, it’s on everyone’s mind. Everyone is cooking more, they’re baking homemade bread, cookies, pies: all the things they wanted to make themselves but never had the time. I did a little bit of that, too. This venture I was undertaking though? It’s more of a knowledge quest and less of a late-night Taco Bell run. Damn, I just realized, is that even a thing anymore? Can you GO to Taco Bell late at night?

My God…what nightmare hell-scape is this?

As a kid, every summer we would go to the beach and spend a week or two with my favorite cousins, you know the ones that are practically siblings. My mom and her cousin (who were daughters of twins so they grew up as sisters practically) were inseparable and they lived in the suburbs of Philly. We would go visit all the time. We went into the city, we saw Phillies games at old Veteran’s Stadium, definitely saw a Flyers game at the Spectrum, too. And that’s say a lot because I can’t stand the Philly sports teams for the most part. But Philadelphia is an amazingly beautiful city. In fact, there were a few times that the wife and I discussed moving to the Philly area. You will not see any hate from me when it comes to Philly…except their sports teams, and even that is only the football and hockey team. I did root for the Phillies when the Nationals weren’t a thing yet.

Like DC, Philadelphia is a melting pot, too. Most of your major East Coast cities share this trait as a matter of fact, especially the Mid-Atlantic ones. What makes them different though is the things that became staples in each of these cities. Some of it has to do with who settled in these cities, some of it dumb luck, some of it loud mouthed cab drivers making a smart ass remark. Let’s dive in to the City of Brotherly Love.

Philadelphia is such an interesting city. It’s one of the oldest cities in the United States, it was an integral location for the Founding Fathers as they drafted the Declaration of Independence there, and it was the country’s first capital city. It also has been a place for immigrants to come and thrive: Italians, Germans, Irish during the early days of immigration but the city also has a large African American population, as many moved from the South to Philly after the Civil War.

Because of this diversity the city has a wide array of incredibly delicious culinary treats. When narrowing down the choices of food that represent Philadelphia, it was pretty much a no-brainer. Sure, the city is know for their soft pretzels, Polish water ice, hoagies, and even the famous deserts made by Tastykake but the king of Philly, for nearly 90 years running is the cheesesteak.

Look at that thing. It’s a work of art in simplicity. It’s hard to believe that humanity hadn’t created the concept of a cheesesteak long before the 1930s. You would figure the order would go: humans controls fire, humans invent the wheel, a language system is created, both oral and written so humans can communicate with one another THEN cheesesteaks. We’re not sure exactly what day it was created, but it was sometime in 1930 that Pat Olivieri and his brother Harry opened a hot dog stand. At some point they decided to try a new sandwich that was chopped steak and onions. While Pat was eating the sandwich, a cab driver stopped by and was fascinated by the creation, so he ordered one. After eating it, the cab driver suggested that Pat quit making hot dogs and instead focus on the new sandwich. The addition of cheese came later from a guy named “Cocky Joe” Lorenza. This is what I love about old, East Coast cities: people had awesome nicknames and became legends for saying things like (speculatively) “Ay! What if we threw some cheese on this bad boy?” A legend was born. God bless you Pat, Harry and Cocky Joe.

So how could you take a historic team like the Philadelphia Eagles and NOT mash them up with a historic food icon like the cheesesteak? The answer is you can’t. It is your duty, nay MY DUTY to mash up the Philadelphia football team with a cheesesteak.

Here’s where you get the sports nerd in me to come out. The first design looked cool, right? Simple, classy, looks delicious AF and demands your respect as both a sandwich and a force of nature. It looks like the Eagles logo, except instead of feathers on the wing, it’s steak and onions covered in Cheez Wiz. I made the original logo with their newer colors but felt bad because I knew there was their old color scheme and had to do a version like that as well. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a cool retro look.

Do I like the Eagles? HELL NO. But I do respect them. Their fans, while loud-mouthed, violent, belligerent, and rude are fiercely loyal. They kept getting the shaft for decades and finally won a Super Bowl a few years back. Good for them. The team deserved it. And in the end, maybe I don’t like the Eagles but I love cheesesteaks and I love Philly. I owe the city and the sandwich a level of respect because of that, which is why there is a 3rd version of the helmet, with just the sandwich.

Have you ever loved a sandwich so much you considered moving to that city for it? No? Just me? Call me a hopeless romantic.

Are you fan of the “Iggles?” Are you a fan of the city of Philadelphia? What about delicious, legendary sandwiches? Whatever your reason, get yourself a Cheesesteaks tee shirt today! Just click on the picture.

There’s t-shirts above, but also stickers below! Remember: all purchases go to help keep GGR running!

For the stickers we have for sale on Redbubble, click on the picture!

You can call me a lot of things, shameless self-promoter is one of them. I’ll continue to post my food history journeys as I share more of these “Foodball” teams. I hope you enjoy reading about and seeing my creations as much as I have enjoyed this process. More cities and food stories to come, so stay tuned!