Eagles belt holiday hits on ‘Philly Special Christmas’ album
ap photo War on Drugs drummer Charlie Hall poses in Philadelphia, on Dec. 7. Hall teamed up with several members of the Philadelphia Eagles football team and other musicians to record the seven-song LP “A Philly Special Christmas.”
PHILADELPHIA — The burly, bearded men belting out holiday classics have made the night before Christmas more than just a time this year to watch the Philadelphia Eagles try and slay the competition.
Lane Johnson, Jason Kelce and Jordan Mailata — with a little assist from some melodic teammates — have made a season already pretty jolly in Philly a bit more sweet-sounding with the release of their Christmas album, “A Philly Special Christmas.”
Yes, the album title is an ode to Old Saint Nick, in this case former QB Nick Foles and the trick play that helped the Eagles win their only Super Bowl in the 2017 season.
The trio of Eagles offensive lineman can sing about as well as they can pass protect — Johnson might not even let Santa Claus down the chimney as he holds the record for most consecutive games without allowing a sack — and an All-Star cast of musicians was assembled to record the album.
Leading the charge was Charlie Hall, drummer for the Grammy-winning band War on Drugs.
“If we’re going to do this, let’s make it meaningful. Let’s make it awesome,” Hall said. “It’s not a goof.”
While the tone is light, this is no novelty record.
“Oh, football players making a record, it’s like ‘Super Bowl Shuffle,'” Hall said with a laugh. “But no, this was born out of sincerity and a deep love and appreciation of music.”
The cover art features Johnson, Kelce and Mailata sketched in an homage to the Peanuts characters on the “A Charlie Brown Christmas” album and the songs are standards found on Christmas playlists.
“I did not think it was going to get to this level of quality,” Kelce said.
The guys in green sing “White Christmas,” ” Blue Christmas,” “Silent Night” and Eagles radio announcer Merrill Reese narrates “The Night Before Christmas.”
On the field, the Eagles play the Dallas Cowboys Dec. 24.
There’s a philanthropical slant to the album as well, with proceeds going to the Children’s Crisis Treatment Center in Philadelphia. More than $100,000 has already been raised.
Good luck buying the album, though.
Well, at least a vinyl copy, as previous pressings have quickly sold out. The last batch sold out in 120 seconds — some albums are going for $4,000 on eBay — and there’s one final order available on Friday. “A Philly Special Christmas” is of course available on streaming services and one song a week has been dropped each Friday leading to the full record’s release on Dec. 23.






