Longtime Philadelphia journalist and sports fan Dan McQuade recently showcased his extensive collection of bootleg Philadelphia Eagles tees at a one-night-only art show, writes Patrick Rapa for Philadelphia Magazine.
A longtime collector, McQuade got most of his memorabilia in parking lots or gas stations. The items are often cheap, made quickly, and are not authorized by the team.
In addition to Eagles logos, they are decked out with messages and often weird artistic choices made by anonymous artists.
For McQuade, part of the attraction of this type of merchandise is that it is not approved by the team or the NFL.
“The Eagles and the NFL want you to cheer the way they would like you to cheer, and they would like to make the money off of that as well. These [shirts] are the way that the fans want to cheer — things that are sold on the street corners,” said McQuade.
While some of the bootleg tees may have short shelf lives that peaked at the right moment, they showcase a special kind of Eagles fandom.
“I think that people making their own shirts and selling them and wearing them is a protest against … people who do technically own the team, but they don’t own the team morally,” McQuade added.
Read more about the collection in Philadelphia Magazine.
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