{"id":199579,"date":"2025-09-04T12:57:21","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T12:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/199579\/"},"modified":"2025-09-04T12:57:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T12:57:21","slug":"meet-eagles-shirley-the-birds-fan-who-turned-passion-into-purpose","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/199579\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet “Eagles Shirley,” the Birds fan who turned passion into purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you’ve been to an Eagles game, there’s a good chance you’ve seen or even met Shirley Ann Dash<\/a> \u2014 better known as “Eagles Shirley.” With her unmistakable energy and devotion to the Birds, she’s become one of Philadelphia’s most recognizable fans. But behind the cheers and chants is a story of resilience, teaching and community impact.<\/p>\n

Shirley’s love for the Eagles is lifelong, but her fandom went public nearly 20 years ago with the release of “E-A-G-L-E-S: The Movie<\/a>.” After her appearance, she couldn’t walk through Philly without fans stopping her on the street.<\/p>\n

In 2005, Shirley started teaching a class at her church called “101 Do’s and Don’ts for the Ladies<\/a>,” helping women understand football basics and fan etiquette. That project has since evolved into a book that you can fit right in your purse.<\/p>\n

The lessons aren’t just about rivalries or game-day outfits, though she’s quick to remind fans that wearing blue and green together when the Birds face Dallas is a “big no-no.” For her, it’s about making people feel confident, welcomed and proud to be part of Eagles Nation.<\/p>\n

\"4am-to-8-am-clean-aircheck-250904-frame-162809.jpg<\/p>\n

CBS News Philadelphia<\/p>\n

Off the field, Dash has built an impressive professional life. She serves as the director of IT at a major travel hub and teaches information technology as an adjunct professor at Peirce at Lackawanna College. She’s also a Drexel University graduate and a co-author of “A Legacy to Share, Volume 2,” where she opened up about her personal struggles in a chapter titled “You Think You Know Me.”<\/p>\n

Many fans don’t know that Dash was diagnosed with epilepsy as a teenager. She faced years of seizures, which often disrupted her dreams of pursuing college. Her last seizure was in 2005 \u2014 the same year she began teaching her “Do’s and Don’ts” class.<\/p>\n

For her, sharing her story was a matter of faith.<\/p>\n

“I asked God when He wanted me to tell it,” she said. “And He gave me the answer.”<\/p>\n

Still Cheering, Still Teaching<\/p>\n

Today, Dash continues to balance her professional career with her mission to inspire fans. She calls herself an underdog \u2014 a title she shares proudly with her Eagles.<\/p>\n

While she refuses to say the name of the team that starts with the letter “D,” she leaves her beloved Birds with one clear message: “We better get that first W.”<\/p>\n

Fans can catch Eagles Shirley promoting her book and signing copies this Saturday at the Chickie’s and Pete’s on Packer Avenue.<\/p>\n

\n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n

Wakisha Bailey<\/a><\/p>\n

Wakisha Bailey joined CBS News Philadelphia as a reporter in July 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you’ve been to an Eagles game, there’s a good chance you’ve seen or even met Shirley Ann…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":199580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,9338,1448,2830,1311,1105,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-199579","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-national-football-league","10":"tag-pa","11":"tag-pennsylvania","12":"tag-philadelphia","13":"tag-philadelphia-eagles","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115146145438887585","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}