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Santa Clause isn’t the only jolly, bearded man spreading Christmas cheer this year. The Philadelphia Eagles‘ offensive linemen Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata have teamed up to create A Philly Special Christmas album, with the help of The War on Drugs drummer Charlie Hall.
The proceeds from the album, which will be released by Vera Y Records on December 23rd, will be donated to the Children’s Crisis Treatment Center (CCTC) in Philadelphia to fund a holiday toy drive. In the meantime, one song from the album will go live every Friday up until the official release, starting last week with “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).”
“I love Christmas, and I had an idea that doing a Christmas album would be great,” Kelce says in a mini-documentary about making the album this past summer. “The problem is I can’t sing, so I knew I was going to coax guys that could sing into coming in and doing this.”
With the help of vocal coach Eliza Hardy Jones, the men warmed up their voices, and Mailata proved he is both a star on the football field and in the recording studio. “I think Jordan’s just playing football to launch his singing career,” Kelce jokes about his teammate. “I think some people choose American Idol as their start, and he’s like “I’m going to make millions of dollars playing left tackle and then go into singing.” I think he’s actually a genius.”
Discussing the singing abilities of the linemen, Hall says "All of their voices are a reflection of their personalities, and it's beautiful." He adds, "We are first and foremost having fun. We are celebrating Philadelphia, we are celebrating friendship and we're celebrating Christmas."
Listeners will also hear cameos from other Philly favorites including former Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin and Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.
While recording for the album, Kelce asked Hurts "What's on your Christmas list?," to which the quarterback responds "You know what's on my Christmas list, a Super Bowl."
The Eagles are making fans proud both on the field, with a 10-1 record, and off the field by spreading holiday cheer and giving back.
"Merry Christmas, Philadelphia," Kelce says at the end of the recording.
"And a happy New Year," Johnson adds.
Kelce interjects, "Except you, Dallas."
