How a Philly kid ended up opening a Chiefs bar in | College News
It’s a tiny nook bar in a gritty South Philadelphia neighborhood, a hangout no larger than the row homes that encompass it. A bunch of perhaps 30 locals, some pals for 50 years, collect at Big Charlie’s Saloon each fall Sunday, filling the place to the brim.
Sometimes you wanna go
Where all people loves your crew
Imagine, a Kansas City Chiefs bar in the City of Brotherly Love, the place authorities need to grease the sunshine poles to keep jubilant Eagles followers from climbing them — and even that doesn’t work. Yet, even with Philadelphia squaring off towards Kansas City in Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, the patrons of Big Charlie’s nonetheless stomach up to the bar in the stomach of the beast.
“This is our neighborhood, and it works because we’re neighborhood guys,” mentioned Paul Staico, who owns the institution 5 blocks from Lincoln Financial Field. “So you have Eagles fans, Chiefs fans mingling every single day. It does happen.”
It gained’t be taking place Sunday, although — no less than not on a grand scale. As he did two years in the past when the Eagles and Chiefs first met in the Super Bowl, Staico closed the bar to the public and invited solely a small group of family and friends. He didn’t at all times like the way in which the bar was portrayed by native media.
“Last time around, a couple of different TV stations kind of made us look like the bad guy,” he mentioned. “I felt like we’ve been here so long they shouldn’t have put a spin like that on it.”
For that sport, which the Chiefs gained, Staico initially had deliberate a Super Bowl celebration and bought tickets. When the primary 150 bought out in two hours, nevertheless, he realized the occasion was getting too massive too shortly. He feared the intersection can be clogged with journey shares, and he didn’t need strangers meandering the unfamiliar streets in Chiefs jerseys.
“If you were wandering anywhere outside of this neighborhood you’d have trouble,” he mentioned. “I don’t want to have that on my hands.”
Staico is a Philly man by way of and thru. He loves the 76ers, Flyers and Phillies and celebrates them at his bar. He pours gallons of Budweiser and Coors, however tons of Yuengling and Rolling Rock too. There are six TVs at Big Charlie’s, and at any given time there’s one of 5 motion pictures taking part in: “The Godfather,” “Goodfellas,” “A Bronx Tale,” “Jaws” and — naturally — “Rocky.”
In truth, there’s a scene in “Rocky” that was shot close by.
Big Charlie’s Saloon proprietor Paul Staico, middle with finger up, gathers with patrons at his South Philadelphia bar.
(Courtesy of Paul Staico)
“Sylvester Stallone walks through a convent that’s near a church that’s two blocks away,” Staico mentioned. “It’s my parish.”
So why, in the identify of Sly, does Staico root for the Chiefs?
It appears his late father, for whom Big Charlie’s is called, was a gambler who wager on Kansas City to beat Minnesota in Super Bowl IV (which, coincidentally, was performed in New Orleans). It was 1970, and younger Paul hadn’t began grade college.
“I remember him telling me we need the red team to win,” Staico mentioned. “They won, and the next day I got a bike. I was loyal after that.”
Just a few years later, Charlie purchased the bar. Paul stayed loyal to the Chiefs, regardless that they weren’t on TV in Philadelphia more than perhaps a sport per season. Years later, his household bought a satellite tv for pc dish and his fandom grew.
Charlie died in 1983, and ultimately Paul and his buddies started watching video games on the bar. The group grew and started to build up Chiefs memorabilia — jerseys, helmets, posters, cups — and beautify their hangout.
When NFL Films showcased Big Charlie’s in 2003, then shocked everybody in 2023 by bringing former Chiefs (and Eagles) coach Dick Vermeil by for a go to, the place turned more than a neighborhood curiosity.
“That really put us on the map,” Staico mentioned.
Michael Puggi, who grew up across the nook from Big Charlie’s Saloon, holds a reproduction of the Lombardi Trophy that was gifted to the bar.
(Jessica Griffin / The Philadelphia Inquirer)
One day, the spouse of Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo stopped by and introduced her father. They liked the vibe of the place. Soon enough, Spagnuolo dropped in with a reward: a reproduction Lombardi Trophy from the Super Bowl win over the Eagles.
“After we got the one,” Staico mentioned, “I said I gotta get the one from 1970 too. Then over the years we won a couple more, and now I’ve got four trophies in the back of the bar.”
A relentless move of Chiefs followers take selfies with these shiny silver keepsakes.
But not this Super Bowl Sunday.
“We’re gonna take a knee,” mentioned Staico, South Philly’s reply to Sam Malone.
Cheers to that.
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