Michael Thomas Leibrandt: Green on Black Friday?

It’s always amazing when your 90+ year-old franchise continues to make history. But this time, history might be in their favor in a big way. 

In franchise history, the Eagles are 3–5–1 when playing on Fridays. Almost ninety-five years after Philadelphia’s former professional football franchise, the Frankford Yellow Jackets in their signature blue and yellow uniforms, recorded their last ever win against the Chicago Bears 13–12 in 1931, the Eagles will play their first-ever game on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

One thing that never gets old when watching the Eagles are those throwback, bright Kelly green uniforms. If you grew up watching the Birds, those uniforms don’t recall imagery of championships, but of something more. They represent the blistering Eagles defense of the 1990s, a World Championship in 1960, and our first ever Super Bowl in 1980.

It’s amazing to think that it’s been 45 years since the Eagles steamrolled the Dallas Cowboys 20–7 in the 1980 NFC Championship Game on their way to the franchise’s first ever Super Bowl. That game is shrouded with incredible stories surrounding that day at Veterans Stadium in South Philadelphia.

One legend that has survived is about the Cowboys’ uniforms. Dallas’s dominance under Tom Landry was connected to legends of its own. The Cowboys were long rumored to be unbeatable in their white uniforms. For the NFC Championship Game in 1980, the Eagles made them wear blue. When Wilbert Montgomery blasted off of right tackle in the first quarter for a 42-yard touchdown, it wasn’t just a bad omen for Dallas: It was game over.

If you’ve spent time trying to adjust your TV during Eagles away games this season — you aren’t alone. This is the second season when the Eagles are accompanying their white jerseys and black pants with black-winged helmets taking advantage of the NFL’s policy of a third alternate uniform. Just to round out your retinal experience, the Eagles are wearing those traditional Kelly green uniforms against NFC East opponents this year.

And after last week’s debacle in Dallas, Eagles fans are hoping for a win against the Bears on the day after Thanksgiving in order to keep pace with the Rams in the race for the NFC’s top playoff seed.

But uniforms aren’t the only significance to the game on Friday. Three of the four previous Eagles games on Fridays (1948, 1960, and a 2024 opener in Sao Paulo, Brazil) had something else in common. They were all championship seasons for the Eagles.

Michael Thomas Leibrandt lives and works in Abington Township, PA.