Philadelphia takes its sports seriously, but not too seriously. Here's a look at the best pranks in Philly sports history, because sometimes you need to laugh at yourself - or someone else.
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1/4
We start with one of the more involved sports pranks I've ever seen. Brett Myers managed to convince Kyle Kendrick he was traded to a Japanese team during spring training by getting everyone - Charlie Manuel, Ruben Amaro Jr., even the Phillies press corps - in on the joke, and the execution had Kendrick's head spinning. The payoff "You just got punk'd!" is so, so good.
2/4
Gritty has been nothing if not unapologetic about being himself since he arrived in Philly. A big part of Gritty's greatness? He takes no prisoners. So, during a seemingly normal duck-duck-goose chase at the Wells Fargo Center, the big orange menace absolutely smoked an innocent fan with a cake to the face during a win over the Ducks. The perfect timing, the slow-mo video (watch here) , the slapstick humor - it's all fantastic.
3/4
The last thing Flyers players are thinking about before practice is how to defend themselves from a wild snake - which makes it a perfect prank setup. I love the idea of telling someone to look in a container, and leaving the result intentionally vague. They know to expect the unexpected... but that could be anything! There are so many good reactions (watch here) , but I think Braydon Coburn's 'Oh, f***!' is particularly inspired.
4/4
I love a good "famous athlete pretends to be normal citizen" bit, so when DeSean Jackson cosplayed as a Modell's employee in 2008, and snookered a couple of Philly sports fans into believing his role, I was all-in. A couple other good entries in the category include Rhys Hoskins as a Citizens Bank Park pro shop employee , and Brent Celek as a Wawa employee . Always great.