The burly, bearded men belting out holiday classics have an usual day job: playing football for the Philadelphia Eagles, perhaps the NFL's most dominant team this season. Lane Johnson, Jason Kelce, and Jordan Mailata—with a little assist from some melodic teammates—have put out a Christmas album, A Philly Special Christmas. (The album title is an ode to the trick play that helped the Eagles win their only Super Bowl, in the 2017 season.) The trio got some help from an All-Star cast of musicians, including Charlie Hall, drummer for the Grammy-winning band War on Drugs, per the AP.
While the tone is light, this is no novelty record. "Oh, football players making a record, it's like 'Super Bowl Shuffle,'" Hall said. "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 more, and Eagles radio announcer Merrill Reese narrates The Night Before Christmas.
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, however, available on streaming services, and one song a week has been dropped each Friday leading to the full album's release on Dec. 23.
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