The hunt for a 1999 Eagles Doug Pederson jersey

Doug Pederson’s third arrival in Philadelphia felt like fate finally coming to fruition with two decades’ worth of threads tying together. The Eagles made Pederson their latest head coach back in early 2016. After re-signing incumbent quarterback Sam Bradford, the Birds brought in Chase Daniel, a veteran journeyman who had been a backup with Pederson in Kansas City and knew his system well. Shortly after, the Eagles sprung a franchise-altering trade for Carson Wentz in the NFL Draft.

Pederson was once Daniel, as we all know. When Andy Reid came to Philadelphia in 1999 from Green Bay, he brought Pederson along with him, who had served as a backup behind Brett Favre on some stellar Packers teams. Wentz’s predecessor in this regard was obviously Donovan McNabb, the future of the franchise who would learn under the tutelage of both Reid and Pederson.

The difference between Pederson and Daniel, however, was that Pederson actually began the season as the Eagles’ starting quarterback. Dougie P was a train wreck for the Birds in 1999. He played in all 16 games with a 2-7 record as a starter, throwing for two touchdowns, eight interceptions while completing just 55.7 percent of his passes.

Nevertheless, the internet has a wide array of old pictures of Pederson rocking an Eagles jersey in-game, leaving today’s fans wondering if they could ever find a vintage Pederson Birds jersey themselves or if a manufacturer like Mitchell & Ness would ever create a retro version. M&N has had several teases over the years, but nothing concrete has come of it:

Being the instigator that I am, I’ve repeatedly tried to bully them into making one. A Doug Pederson jersey became my white whale, my Holy Grail of Eagles apparel and memorabilia. More so than any player, I credit the Eagles Super Bowl victory to Pederson outmatching the greatest defensive mind of all time with a backup quarterback at the helm. To put it simply, he’s a hero of mine. In a weird way, he feels like a second father figure. Hell, he’s not much older than my own dad. I have a lifetime’s worthy of memories, relationships, cheers and tears due to ol’ Dougie.

I’ve talked about this before on BGN Radio podcasts and some other articles, but I’m a huge vintage sports gear guy. I hound eBay like a fiend. It’s understandable then that I’ve always been on the prowl for a 1999 Pederson jersey. Well, I got my wish today:

The amazing mind behind the @jawn_vintage Instagram account (be sure to give them a follow), tracked down this bad boy for me. I’m eternally grateful. It’s an omen. I’m ready to rock it on the BGN_Radio Twitch channel Sunday. I’m ready for an Eagles win. I’m ready for a Super Bowl run.

Is there one piece of Eagles memorabilia you’re dying to have? Fire off in the comments or shoot me a tweet (@shamus_clancy).