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Bradley Cooper Shares How Super Bowl Introduction With Superfan Declan Came Together

The actor gave a rousing introduction to the Philadelphia Eagles ahead of Super Bowl LIX.

Tyler Lauletta

Bradley Cooper introduces the Philadelphia Eagles ahead of Super Bowl LIX.
Bradley Cooper introduces the Philadelphia Eagles ahead of Super Bowl LIX. / @NFL / X
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Before the Philadelphia Eagles absolutely dismantled the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX, they had to get on the field.

Leading the charge for the Eagles on Super Bowl Sunday was Pennsylvania native, Oscar nominee, and die-hard Philadelphia fan Bradley Cooper, who rallied the crowd with a chant of “E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES” as players took the field.

In his arm was a fellow young superfan of the Eagles, Declan LeBaron. LeBaron and Cooper are not related, but they share a passion for midnight green.

Speaking on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show, Cooper explained how he and LeBaron teamed up for the introduction.

LeBaron had gone viral after he chose a Philadelphia plushie over $1,000 cash in a TikTok video. The eight-year-old Eagles fan, who had been in and out of a children’s hospital while dealing with systemic-onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis, had never attended a game, and the surprise that came with the plushie was a pair of tickets.

But when he was also awarded the cash, he decided to give it out to other shoppers at the store where the video was shot.

Cooper later helped surprise LeBaron with tickets to the Super Bowl on The Today Show, and was moved by his story. When the NFL asked him to introduce Philadelphia before the game, he said he would with one condition.

“I thought, ‘I’ll only do it if he does it with me,’” Cooper said. “That would be dope if he did it with me.”

Cooper was impressed by LeBaron’s poise when the big moment came.

“He was awesome. He was so calm,” Cooper said. “I was nervous and he was calming me.”

After a successful chant and run out of the tunnel, the Eagles went on to dominate the Chiefs and win the Super Bowl, leaving Cooper and LeBaron both with a happy ending to their story.

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Tyler Lauletta
TYLER LAULETTA

Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears.

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