To be from Philadelphia is to be accustomed to losing. We have a history of losing. You learn about it in school. Every year we'd make the trek out to Valley Forge, 24 miles northwest of the city, where George Washington's army sheltered in place after losing first downtown and then the neighborhood I grew up in, Germantown, in a series of terrible defeats. Winter hit in Valley Forge, and Washington lost thousands more men. We'd go into their freezing huts, which still stand, and imagine loss.

Later we were the nation's capital, until we weren't. Our baseball team, the Phillies, has the distinction of having lost more games than any other professional sports franchise in the country. This magazine called us the “meanest fans in America.” One of our stadiums had jails and judges in it. Until recently, our one victorious athlete was Rocky Balboa, who is a fictional character. But then a weird thing happened: We started winning. I don't just mean the Super Bowl, which, you may recall, the Eagles won on February 4, 2018, in a thrilling 41–33 victory over the New England Patriots, who came out onto the field to the song “Crazy Train” for some reason. We came out to Meek Mill's “Dreams and Nightmares.” Even my parents were saying: “Free Meek Mill.” Then, in April, Meek Mill was freed. The first thing he did was take a helicopter to a Philadelphia 76ers game to see Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid play, because Simmons and Embiid are fucking amazing.

Eagles players became activists, speaking out about the flawed criminal-justice system. Donald Trump disinvited the team from visiting the White House out of spite; our mayor, Jim Kenney, then called our president “a fragile egomaniac obsessed with crowd size.” Our recently elected district attorney, Larry Krasner, is the most progressive D.A. in the entire country. Our restaurants now regularly grace *Bon Appétit'*s Best New Restaurants list. Will Smith joined Instagram and immediately became incredible at it. You don't have to sell your plasma or your soul to afford an apartment in the city. It just feels…different in Philadelphia these days. Downright victorious, even.

—Zach Baron

Chris Szagola

Safety for the Philadelphia Eagles

GQ: What was your first impression of Philadelphia when you got there?

Malcom Jenkins: I was coming from New Orleans, so I was surprised that the food was as good as it was, that Philly had so many good restaurants. Because I was worried about that.

Philadelphia's fans have a reputation for being difficult.

Our fans are no worse than my dad. My dad is one of those guys who, after a game, says, “What happened on that tackle? How'd you miss that?”

What was it like during your run to the Super Bowl last year?

It was crazy—especially the more wins we had. It was a fun energy. But also, nobody wanted to get overly excited. Philly's had some disappointing things happen to their teams. So they were a little nervous, right to the end. Like, “Is this going to be another one of those years, where we get hit by a jinx?” [Quarterback] Carson Wentz gets hurt at the end of the year: “Aw, here it is—it's a curse!” But luckily as players we didn't really buy into that.

How did you feel about being disinvited to the White House by President Trump?

It didn't bother me. I wasn't going to go, anyway. I think it was a little disappointing for the guys who wanted to go. Their entire lives they've dreamed of winning the Super Bowl and going to the White House, partaking in that tradition. But that was a decision that came from the team. They were only going to send like a couple delegates, and I guess the White House didn't want that. But it didn't stop our celebration. We kept it moving and enjoyed our off-season.