Last night, during half-time of the Philadelphia Eagles domination on Monday Night Football, I noticed a curious tweet from ESPN’s Rick Reilly:
https://twitter.com/ReillyRick/status/531994024249679872
As an Eagles fan, that caught my attention right away. See, “hipster” is a bad word here at BroBible. As silly of a label as it is, being a hipster is the exact opposite of being a Bro — It implies you’re a try-hard who wants to be as self-righteously cool as possible. Hipster-dom means being inauthentic to yourself in a lame, insincere attempt to impress others. Thus, I was confused about why ESPN golden child Rick Reilly was calling the stud linebacker “a hipster.”
Then I watched.
Connor Barwin is an ANIMAL on the field. Last night he got the game ball for taking down Cam Newton 3.5 times. This one was particularly bone-shattering. But even cooler than being a boss in a Birds jersey is his passion for being a caring, upstanding Philadelphian. In his interview with Rick Reilly, he talked about riding his bike around town (including to practice through South Philly) and taking the dirty-ass Broad Street Line. He lives in an old row house in the city (“there was an old bar in the basement,” he boasts), unlike other players who opt for the McMansions of DelCo and the Main Line. Barwin also has a tight bond with his old man, a city manager in Detroit and now Sarasota, Florida. Yuppie life is his calling.
He’s not a fucking hipster, Rick. He’s as Bro as it gets.
And then — like the rest of Phish Twitter, I noticed he was rocking a Phish shirt. Specifically, a Summer Tour 2013 shirt.
Here is @Eagles linebacker @ConnorBarwin98 rockin' a Phish shirt in a pic in his @espn feature http://t.co/Wbv8OHzQ9V pic.twitter.com/ROZowRmT8H
— brandon wenerd (@brandonwenerd) November 11, 2014
That I assume he picked up at this show at Jones Beach, a show where it rained the whole time:
Phish at Jones Beach theater. pic.twitter.com/NBAvfIzMQG
— Connor Barwin (@ConnorBarwin98) July 13, 2013
Anyway, the ESPN featurette is pretty cool. Connor undertook an awesome park revitalization project for a neighborhood in South Philly, throwing a benefit that raised almost $85,000 (Connor matched with another $85,000) to restore a community playground. In order to fight some of the childhood obesity issues in the area, Barwin is going to open an urban farm, bringing fresh homegrown veggies to the inter-city.
Farm-fresh veggies? Sounds like a Phish fan move to me.
fBut seriously, what a Bro. It’s cool to see a burgeoning NFL star defy some of the shitty stereotypes that have marred the league over the past few months. Can’t wait to see what else he accomplishes this season.