The Eagles had just lost Super Bowl LVII, but 15-year-old Birds superfan and sports podcaster Giovanni Hamilton kept his cool in the stands at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.
He had a job to do and somewhere to be — the Eagles Super Bowl post-game press conference.
“I had to maintain a calm composure because I was going to work,” Hamilton said. “Going into the media room and not being able to break down and cry was pretty awesome.”
Off camera, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni walked around the crowd of reporters in the room on Sunday to get to Hamilton.
“He came up to me, shook my hand and said, ‘I’m sorry I couldn’t finish it for you,'” Hamilton recalled. “I told him it was fine and we would get it next year. Then he hugged me and went on stage to hold the press conference.”
But it was Hamilton’s question to Jalen Hurts — the last question Hurts asked during the press conference — that elicited a strong response from the Eagles quarterback, which was cited by media outlets across the country ESPN to Sports Illustrated.
“What is one lesson you learned from this game that you will take into the next one?” Hamilton asked his hero.
Hurts, who was a guest on Hamilton’s podcast last year but had never met him in person before Sunday, was taking a break. Then he turned and addressed Hamilton directly.
“You want to cherish those moments with the people you’ve come this far with, your family, loved ones, your teammates, your colleagues, everyone you do it with and do it for,” Hurts said. “… I think the beauty of it is that everyone experiences different pains, everyone experiences different anguish of life, but you decide if you want to learn from it. You decide if this should be a teachable moment. I know what I’m going to do.”
That answer, and the time it took Hurts to look Hamilton in the eye as he gave it, meant everything to the teen, Hamilton and his mother, Shannon Algarin, said.
“The way he said that to Giovanni almost made him promise, ‘I know what I’m going to do and I hope you’ll follow my lead,'” Algarin said this week. “Giovanni really looks up to Jalen and that meant a lot to me.”
It was a monumentally strong performance from Hamilton in his first-ever press conference, especially since the only questions he wanted to ask Hurts were about the team win.
“Then they lost and I was like, ‘That’s weird’ because I didn’t have a question prepared in case they lost, so I had to come up with it on the fly,” he said.
Giovanni Hamilton stands with reporters at the Eagles press conference at State Farm Stadium following Super Bowl LVII Sunday… …Read more Courtesy of Shannon Algarin
Hamilton, whose family is from central Pennsylvania but moved to Indianapolis, Indiana last year, has been an Eagles fan since he was 10.
As a young child, he was diagnosed with Schwartz-Jampel syndrome, which he describes as “muscular dystrophy and dwarfism rolled into one”. By the time he was 10, Hamilton had undergone 10 surgeries (he’s had 24 to date).
Giovanni Hamilton five years ago, aged 10, dressed up as Carson Wentz for Halloween.. … Read moreShannon Algarin
While he was in a cast from surgery with nothing to do but watch football, Hamilton fell in love with the Eagles, who are also his father’s favorite team.
“Then they drafted Carson [Wentz] and you were hooked,” his mother said.
Wentz, who Hamilton once met in person, was traded from the team in 2021 but remains one of his two favorite players alongside Hurts.
Carson Wentz, left, fist bumps Giovanni Hamilton, then 11, after Eagles training camp at the NovaCare Complex in South Philadelphia on July 26, 2019. . … read moreTIM TAI / Staff Photographer
Inspired by his love for the Eagles and the love the team and his fans have shown him, Hamilton started The Giovanni Show podcast three years ago, where he talks about all things Eagles, Phillies and Indianapolis Colts.
Hamilton has had several celebrity guests, but one of the highlights so far has been having Hurts on his show last year, he said.
“That was before he really became this franchise quarterback for the Eagles, and to just be able to tell him I believe in him before everyone jumped on this bandwagon was great,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton’s podcast was downloaded 50,000 times in 2022 and he has more than 58,000 followers on Twitter.
When the Eagles won the NFC Championship, many of Hamilton’s fans asked his family to start a crowdfunding campaign to send him and his mother to the Super Bowl. While his mother was initially reluctant, Hamilton told her that if they didn’t come up with the donations, they would return any donations received.
She agreed and in less than 24 hours they raised the needed $18,000.
Giovanni Hamilton (left) with his brother Dominic Hamilton (center) and sister Giuliana Algarin (right) at Super Bowl LVII at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. … Read more Courtesy of Shannon Algarin
“The community believes in him as a sports broadcaster as much as my husband and I do,” Algarin said. “It means everything.”
Hamilton’s fans then began tagging sportscaster Rich Eisen on social media, asking him to get Hamilton a press pass, which he did.
Shortly after, Zach Ertz, a former Eagles tight end who now plays for the Arizona Cardinals, came as a guest on Hamilton’s show and surprised him with two more tickets to the game so his brother and sister could go too.
Hamilton and Algarin said being at the Super Bowl was like an Eagles home game because there were so many Birds fans in the stadium.
Sure, the loss hurt, but Hamilton said he’ll remember the good moments of his Super Bowl experience — adventuring with his brother to find a bathroom, singing the Eagles fight song with other fans in the stands , and his question to Hurts at the press conference – more than the loss.
“Being able to look back and not see the loss but see the great moments means a lot to me,” he said. “I don’t think I would have had the same attitude if Jalen hadn’t given me and everyone in the room that advice.”