Moments before the Eagles and Cowboys kick off the 2025 NFL season on Thursday night, iconic Philadelphia band Boyz II Men will take the field.
The group is set to sing the National Anthem at Lincoln Financial Field, and while all three members are Philly natives, Wanya Morris has a special connection to the Eagles.
When the conversations of Boyz II Men singing before the opener started, the band's manager, Joe Mulvihill, knew he didn't even have to ask Wanya.
"Well, we have to do it because Wan' will kill us if we don't," Mulvihill recalls Nathan Morris and Shawn Stockman, the other two members of the band, saying. "There's like an unspoken word that when it comes to the Eagles, the answer is 'Yes.'"
Wanya said he doesn't know when his obsessions with the Birds began, they have just always been a part of his life.
His fandom runs deep, to the point where an Eagles loss will put him out of commission. "If we lose, bro ... I can't," he said. "I'm no good until, like, maybe Monday night."
When Morris is performing on the road, he constantly gets invited out to watch the Eagles. His answer is always no. He chooses to watch alone in his hotel room, and occasionally he'll invite his barber, who's from Philly. Outside of that, he doesn't want any distractions.
Mulvihill said he remembers about a year ago, Morris was performing in Japan and made sure to wake up in the middle of the night to catch the game. That's just how he's wired when it comes to the Eagles.
"I don't know how else to be," Morris said. "I don't know what other color to be. I don't know what other wings to wear."
Growing up in North Philadelphia, Morris is hyper aware of the city's mentality. He said people that give Eagles fans a bad reputation don't understand how people in Philadelphia express themselves.
"When you look at our fans in Philly, it's the passion," Wanya said. "Nobody ever talked about the passion or the fandom of everybody else's being like, 'Oh, it's the worst, it's the worst.' It's always Eagles, it's always Philly, (and) it's just that because our moves and everything are so big, everybody sees it.
"We're not the worst, we're just the most passionate. And the deal is you're going to see us because we big. Philly is always going to be big. That's why the Eagles do what we do."
Boyz II Men has performed the National Anthem multiple times at Lincoln Financial Field, but this will be their first time back in a handful of years. They have the opportunity to set the tone before the game as the Eagles get ready to embark on a new journey in 2025.
Morris and company just want to start things out right.
"Boyz II Men, when we get on the field, it's all about harmony," he said. "It's going to be connected, I'm talking about totally, totally connected. So that's what we're trying to start the whole presentation off with and that's what we're hoping to give that energy to my team, to have that harmony so we can jell and knock these boys out so that they can know what's going on for the rest of the season."
Pregame on Thursday will be special with the Eagles unveiling their Super Bowl LIX banner, but Morris knows there's business at hand. Last season's over, and it's all about starting 2025 with a win.
"I take the approach of Jalen Hurts," Morris said. "It's good, it's beautiful, and I'm happy, very happy, to be sharing the raising for the banner, sitting there watching it, but it's a new season man, and we're on to the next. Let's get it going." — Written by Matt Ryan
