Pope Leo XIV is a documented Villanova Wildcats basketball and Chicago White Sox baseball fan, but it is unclear where his football allegiances lie. And a video that surfaced Wednesday doesn’t make that any clearer; after he was presented with an Eagles hat by Philadelphia’s archbishop, the pope didn’t put it on his holy head.

Philadelphia’s Archbishop Nelson Pérez gifted the leader of the Catholic Church the Eagles hat during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday. Pérez was visiting the city as part of a “Philly Pilgrims of Hope” program organizing visits to holy sites, including the Vatican, during the 2025 Jubilee.

After a handshake and brief conversation between the two men, Pérez pulled out a midnight green Eagles hat and handed it to the Pope. The hat appeared to have a patch on the side, possibly commemorating the team’s Super Bowl LIX victory.

But less than five seconds after accepting the hat with a smile, Pope Leo handed it off to an aide.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. And even though the pope didn’t wear the hat, Pérez called the brief meeting a “profoundly joyful encounter with the Holy Father,” in a Facebook post, adding an eagle emoji and “Go Birds” for good measure.

Reading this Vatican dispatch, one might offer that maybe the Pope was busy greeting other Catholic dignitaries, or that he just did not wish to disturb the zucchetto on his dome.

Yet those concerns did not stop him from accepting and immediately donning a white Villanova hat in early July. The National Italian American Foundation presented Pope Leo the hat from his alma mater — before becoming pontiff, the former Robert Francis Prevost of Chicago graduated from Villanova University in 1977. That was back when he went by “Bob.”

Nobody would have blamed Bob for not making his way down to Veterans Stadium in those days. From 1973 to 1977, the Eagles never finished better than third in the NFC East, and won more than five games just one time.

It’s possible the pope may be wary of declaring allegiance to any football team, perhaps concerned that it’s bad form for the pontiff to root for any NFL team other than the Saints.

If we’re able to clarify who the pope roots for on any given Sunday, we’ll report back.