{"id":998568,"date":"2026-09-12T06:45:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T06:45:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/998568\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T06:45:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T06:45:43","slug":"philadelphia-prepares-for-big-football-weekend-with-eagles-opener-temple-penn-state-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/998568\/","title":{"rendered":"Philadelphia prepares for big football weekend with Eagles opener, Temple-Penn State game"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Philadelphia is gearing up for a busy football weekend with Temple University<\/a> and Penn State<\/a> playing Saturday before the Eagles<\/a> open their season Sunday against the Washington Commanders.<\/p>\n

Barricades went up Friday along Pattison Avenue as the city prepared for thousands of football fans.<\/p>\n

A Temple tent is already set up outside Lincoln Financial Field, with tailgating areas taking shape ahead of Saturday’s in-state matchup.<\/p>\n

“Obviously, it’s a great opportunity for Temple University,” Temple University director of athletics Arthur Johnson said. “We’ll have a lot of graduates, a lot of fans back. But it’s also a great opportunity to play an in-state opponent.”<\/p>\n

Ahead of the Eagles’ season opener, fans are already stocking up on merchandise at the Eagles Pro Shop.<\/p>\n

“I’m from Delaware, but I live in Dallas, and so every time I come home, I just have to come here and buy a bunch of stuff,” Eagles fan Vata Melvin said. “And I always have to send a box home.”<\/p>\n

Mural artist Justin Klement is putting the finishing touches on an Eagles mural outside the Pro Shop.<\/p>\n

The mural features several Eagles players, including DeVonta Smith wearing angel wings.<\/p>\n

Klement has painted for the Eagles before, but said this mural presented a new opportunity.<\/p>\n

“This is the first one of the wings they allowed me to do, like the players themselves, to get some players and the subject up,” Klement said. “So it’s a really strong piece.”<\/p>\n

The mural has already caught the attention of Eagles superfan Tricia Lauricella, who flew from Orlando for Sunday’s season opener.<\/p>\n

“I’m super excited,” Lauricella said. “It’s like Christmas all over again. It’s my favorite day of the year. We just flew in today for it.”<\/p>\n

Businesses are also getting ready for the crowds.<\/p>\n

The Taproom Featuring Santucci’s in Haddon Township is promoting an Eagles pep rally Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m., featuring vendors and music.<\/p>\n

“Bring the kids, come on down,” Taproom server Alicia Perez said. “It will be a fun event for everyone.”<\/p>\n

\n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n

In:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Philadelphia is gearing up for a busy football weekend with Temple University and Penn State playing Saturday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":998569,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2068],"tags":[331,25,7,6,242,109,2476,28486],"class_list":["post-998568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia-eagles","tag-college-football","tag-eagles","tag-football","tag-nfl","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-philadelphiaeagles","tag-temple-university"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117256724380037636","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/998568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=998568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/998568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/998569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=998568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=998568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=998568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}