Philadelphia Eagles graphics and logos Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Eagles support women in sports with massive donation

By Bruce Ewing | Last updated 8/26/23

According to USA Today , women and girls make up 46% of NFL fans in the United States, and thanks to the Philadelphia Eagles 30,000 of them are about to get new sports bras.

On Friday, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, two-time Olympic gold medalist and World Cup champion Carli Lloyd and former president of the Women's Sports Foundation, Laila Ali traveled to Northeast High School to announce the donation of 30,000 sports bras to student athletes throughout the Delaware Valley.

The donation comes as part of the Eagles’ FLY:FWD initiative which looks to level the playing field and provide equipment to girls involved with youth sports. The Eagles are the first NFL team to support female athletes by donating sports bras, but this wasn’t their first donation.

Today with @OperationWarm, we launched a new initiative, the FLY:FWD program, which is an innovative new sports bra that has been conceptualized, engineered, and manufactured specifically for young girls and women competing in sport @WomensSportsFdn | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/IEBqcPogVE
— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) August 25, 2023

In January, the team purchased $100,000 worth of sports bras and donated them to Leveling the Playing Field, a local nonprofit that gave at least one sports bra to every female athlete in need in the Philadelphia school district.

In February, the team partnered with Operation Warm, a nonprofit that manufactures new coats for children in need, to manufacture more bras. The FLY:FWD sports bras are specifically designed for female athletes, with local student-athletes taking part in the design phase.

In March, the team distributed 1,500 sports bras at the annual Eagles Jamboree, which features the Eagles Girls Flag Football League, another team initiative that has grown from 15 to 52 schools in just one year.

Rookie safety Sydney Brown, who also attended the event, seemed impressed with the Eagles’ latest venture. "It is amazing that we are taking initiative like this to do something in the community," he said. "We do not realize the necessities it takes to play sports. A lot of the stuff is just given to us, so we do not value how much of a need sports bras and proper equipment are to play sports."

The announcement came on the eve of Women's Equality Day, which is celebrated annually on Aug. 26.

More must-reads: