Carson Wentz is going to be most popular athlete in Philly history

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While sitting at his charity softball game on Friday night, it hit me: Carson Wentz is going to become the most popular athlete in Philadelphia sports history. 

And I’m not sure that’s much of a stretch. 

Although, it would be pretty impressive considering the type of athletes who have come through this city: Dr. J, Wilt, Chase Utley, Bubba Chuck, Michael Jack, Bobby Clarke, Reggie White, Dawk, Nick Foles. And I’m saying Wentz has the potential to be more popular than all of them. 

Sure, popularity is tough to judge. It’s a subjective thing, linked with likability. But we already have some proof. 

• At his inaugural AO1 Foundation Charity Softball Game, Wentz sold 25,000 tickets. He filled up the first and third base lines. He had fans sitting in the upper reaches of the way upper decks and the event raised over $850,000. A lot of athletes who have softball games or similar type events, normally start them out in smaller minor league ballparks. Not Wentz. He began his at a major league park, saying he knew how much Eagles fans would come through. He was right about that, but it’s not just because of the Eagles. It’s because of him too. 

• It’s telling how much people are buying his gear. In fact, on the most-recent NFLPA top 50 player sales list, Wentz ranked fourth behind two Cowboys (who have a huge following outside of Texas) and the greatest quarterback in NFL history. And just try to go anywhere in this city without seeing a No. 11 jersey. 

• People like Wentz so much in this town that they’re starting to name their children after him. Based on the US Social Security database, we saw a clear spike in the name Carson in 2017. In the last three years, the name Carson went from the 81st most-popular name in Pennsylvania to the 39th. In 2017, there were 301 babies named Carson. That number will likely keep going up. This is a lot like what we saw with the name Chase after the Phillies won the World Series. 

It’s not hard to figure out why Wentz is so popular either. Let’s start with the obvious: his play. 

While we know that being the quarterback for the Eagles is going to come with a certain level of fame in Philadelphia, we’ve also seen that it doesn’t necessarily correlate to being popular. We’ll get to that in a minute. But for now, Wentz is just a really good football player. After his up-and-down rookie season, Wentz turned in an incredible sophomore campaign until it ended early with an ACL tear. Before then, he was playing at an MVP level. If Wentz can stay healthy, he can become an all-time great player. 

But it’s not just that he’s a good player; it’s the way he plays, with grit. He’s got that Brett Favre-like, gunslinger mentality, without the bonehead mistakes. He’s got so much competitiveness that he actually needs to tone it down to avoid injury. 

OK, let’s get back to being quarterback in Philadelphia. Foles is beloved, but we all know the future of the team isn't his. And Donovan McNabb was a really good quarterback, still the best in franchise history. But say his name now, and you’ll get mixed reactions. He never got it and fans never truly embraced him the way they already have with Wentz. And McNabb had a chance to just let all those bad feelings dissolve, but he couldn’t get out of his own way. 

Enough about McNabb, though. Because for as many reasons as there are for him never being liked, there are double the reasons for why Wentz is so likable. And it starts with his personality. He’s not aloof. He’s the type of aw-shucks, dude-next-door you want your son to emulate and you’d be happy for your daughter to date. 

I once wrote this about J.J. Watt, but it holds true for Wentz: “He's the kind of guy you want to hate because he's just too damn perfect. But then you realize he's too damn nice to hate and turn on yourself.”

Wentz’s image is crafted to perfection. He totes the line between being religious and preachy. But if it ever seems like he’s overdoing it with his faith, you’ll get over the annoyance when you realize the good he’s doing. 

Plenty of folks advised him to wait a few more years before starting his AO1 Foundation, but Wentz politely turned down that advice. He wanted to make a difference through charity and he didn’t want to wait. He wanted to use his platform now, because he won't have it forever. And, boy, has he used it. His softball game raised $850K. He presented another check on Friday for $520K for a sports complex in Haiti, where he's gone on mission trips. He has created outdoors camps for youth. And he just started up a free food truck to help out those out in the Philadelphia area. 

Another side of this theory is the age we live in. Wentz is active on social media, allowing fans an inner glimpse of his normal-dude personality. And while he might turn some folks off with his penchant for hunting, he’s gaining other fans who are outdoorsmen. He even had his outdoors show with his brother Zach, “Wentz Bros. Outdoors,” picked up as an online show on OutdoorChannel.com. 

Of course, this whole theory about Wentz becoming the most popular athlete in Philly history involves plenty of projection. Wentz is coming off a pretty serious knee injury, so this is all under the assumption that he’ll return to form … something that probably isn’t fair to assume. All this other stuff doesn’t matter unless he’s great on the field. 

But if he returns to his MVP form, he could win multiple Super Bowls. Imagine this guy winning multiple Super Bowls. And we know he’s only going to continue to be a positive beacon off the field. There’s simply never been a more likable athlete in Philadelphia history. 

When all is said and done, his popularity should be unmatched too. 

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