By Elena Perri • Posted March 19, 2026

During football season, scores of diehard Philadelphia Eagles fans head to Lincoln Financial Field or watch the team play on TV.

One Eagles fan recently earned the distinction of not only being the 2025 Eagles Fan of the Year, but he also was named the NFL’s Ultimate Fan of the Year.

Ed Callahan, a member of St. Matthew Parish in Northeast Philadelphia, described the honor as a “humbling experience.”

A longtime season ticketholder with a passion for tailgating and raising money for the Eagles Autism Challenge, Callahan was quick to acknowledge the people who help him with the tailgate fundraisers.

“I couldn’t have done it without the support of my tailgate crew,” he said. “I’m just the face of the EagleMobile Tailgate.”

The Eagles staff organized a surprise announcement for Callahan at the NovaCare Complex last month, and Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham presented Callahan with a custom Ultimate Fan of the Year football and a banner commemorating the honor.

He also received two tickets to attend Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, California.

Callahan, who estimates he has attended more than 300 Eagles home and road games so far, went to his first Eagles game at Connie Mack Stadium in 1954.

“I attended my first game when I was 8 years old, and Pete Pihos caught the touchdown pass that was the game winner,” he said. “I was hooked from then on.”

The tailgate tradition started out small, but after seeing an old recreational vehicle (RV) at a tailgate before a 2008 Eagles-Browns game in Cleveland, Ohio, Callahan decided to get his own RV.

“We got an old beat-up RV, Eagled it up, and started the EagleMobile Tailgate tradition in the 2009 season,” he said.

Callahan, a 1964 alumnus of Father Judge High School, has tailgated in the same spot since Lincoln Financial Field opened in 2003.

In 2014, it was time to upgrade to a bigger RV that he dubbed “EagleMobile II.” Five years later, Callahan and his fellow season ticket holders were asked to start a fundraising team for the Eagles Autism Foundation.

At the time, Callahan did not have any family members diagnosed with autism, but he now has a personal connection with the fundraising work he does.

“I have a nephew who is on the spectrum, and I found out that I have a second cousin who is also on the spectrum,” he said.

As his tailgate parties have grown over the years, Callahan, whose nickname is “Big Ed,” has turned the gatherings into successful fundraisers. He and his EagleMobile II team have raised more than $500,000 for the Eagles Autism Challenge since 2019.

This year Callahan’s goal is to raise $100,000, and he wants to net another $14,000 by the end of May.

“That’s my goal,” he said. “I don’t know if I’ll make it, but I’ll get close.”

At 79, Callahan calls himself the “admiral” of the tailgate parties.

“I have a nephew who is my captain,” he explained. “We have a core group of about 25 people that does the heavy lifting with cooking and helping with the raffles.”

Felisa, his wife of 53 years, enjoys going to the tailgates, but she has her limits, according to Callahan. “​​Once it gets cold, she quits,” he said.

Due to his fundraising efforts, the NFL Fan of the Year doesn’t have much Eagles memorabilia on display at his house.

“I’ve been raffling it off,” he said. “It’s more worthwhile to raise money from it than to stick it on my wall. I’ve been a witness to the history, so I don’t need the bits and pieces to remind me of it.”

Callahan’s selflessness has been an integral part of his life.

“At almost every point in my life I’ve been in service, either military service or working for the military as a civilian,” he said. “The sense of service is a Catholic thing too.”

Although Callahan has always been service-oriented, he is also fiercely competitive.

“Not only do I want to do good by raising money for a very worthy cause, but I want to beat the other guys while I’m doing it,” he said.

While Callahan has served as a lector and eucharistic minister at St. Matthew’s for almost 30 years, he fell away from the Church while serving on active duty in the U.S. Navy.

After 28 years of service, he retired from the Navy in 1994. Around that time a student asked Callahan for help with preparing for the sacrament of confirmation.

“She knew I had been raised Catholic, but I said to myself, ‘How can I talk to this girl if I don’t practice the faith?’” he said.

A retired Navy chaplain that Callahan knew helped him return to the Church.

“I’ve been a practicing Catholic ever since,” he said.

Returning to the Church has helped his life become a lot calmer.

“It’s been a lot more fulfilling, and even when you fall away, the strength of your faith is never really lost,” Callahan said. “You hear people talk about Catholic guilt. Well, that’s real.”

He and Felisa are regular attendees at the Saturday vigil Mass, especially during football season.

Father Patrick Welsh, pastor of St. Matthew’s, wasn’t surprised at all when Callahan was named the NFL’s Ultimate Fan of the Year.

“Most people in Mayfair are sports people, but Ed takes it to a new level,” Father Welsh said. “He truly is remarkable.”

Father Welsh emphasized how Callahan’s fundraising efforts intersect with how he lives out his Catholic faith.

“We’re Catholic every day, not just on Sunday, and he really does embody that,” the pastor said. “He takes what he experiences at the liturgy here at St. Matthew’s, and it propels him back out into the world to serve.”