Naturally, We Had to Check In With Rob Dunphy About His Insane Philly Sports Tattoos

Philadelphia sports fan Rob Dunphy (and a friend) showing off his Philadelphia Eagles and Phillies tattoos. He says he’ll be adding to the ladder if the Phillies win the World Series. / Photograph courtesy Rob Dunphy.

Way back in 2019, the world was introduced to Rob Dunphy, a Philadelphia man with lots of Philly sports tattoos, after a video of him shirtless at an Eagles game went viral. We interviewed Dunphy back then (you can read the 2019 interview here), and he told us all about it. Given the situation we now find ourselves in with the Phillies headed to the World Series and the Eagles undefeated, we felt it was our journalistic duty to check in with Dunphy.

“This season is everything you can dream of as a fan,” says Dunphy, a 29-year-old married father of two from Bridesburg. “It’s just unreal, between the Phillies and the Eagles.”

Dunphy has added some tattoos since we last spoke with him.

First up was Gritty, which Dunphy wanted to get as soon as Gritty became a thing, but he had just had a baby and couldn’t spend the $1,000 at the time. He’s also added all of the following tattoos since our last conversation:

• The Sixers logo
• 4th and 26, an Eagles play that has its whole own Wikipedia page
• #3 for Allen Iverson
• #26 for former Phillies great Chase Utley
• #20 for former Eagles safety Brian Dawkins
• The Super Bowl LII trophy
• ’08 for the year the Phillies won the World Series

For comparison, this was Dunphy in 2019:

Rob Dunphy and his tattoos in 2019 / Photograph courtesy Rob Dunphy

So what’s next?

Dunphy has been to every Phillies home playoff game this season. And it so happens that he will be in Houston next week for the Thursday night Eagles game, meaning he’ll be in Houston for Game Six of the World Series, if it gets that far. (Dunphy says he’s secretly hoping for the Phillies in six, so he can be there for it, but that he realizes it would be best if we clobbered the Astros before that game.)

If the Phillies win the World Series, Dunphy plans to commemorate that as soon as possible with a Phillies World Series tattoo. He’s also planning to hit a home World Series game or two, depending on what happens with the prices.

“I go to lots of games,” says Dunphy. “So I know how to work the game. Sellers always inflate the prices at first. So I watch the market. And when they hit the right price, I’ll pull the trigger.”

As for the Eagles, Dunphy predicts they will face off against the Bills in the Super Bowl. And he will most definitely get another Eagles tattoo should they be victorious.

I asked Dunphy if he’ll get another Phillies tattoo even if they don’t win the World Series. After all, the Phillies were never supposed to make the poststeason, let alone get to the World Series.

“Absolutely not,” Dunphy insists. “I don’t believe in second-place trophies.”

I knew I liked this guy.