A rivalry has been renewed.

Philadelphia hosts the NFC championship match between Eagles and the visitors Washington Commander’s Sunday.

Prior to the game, the famous Rocky statue in Downtown Philadelphia was dressed in equipment representing Commander’s previous identity, Redskins.

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The guilty is unknown.

Dressing the statue in opposing team’s equipment has become a tradition in recent years prior to major Eagles playoff matches. Every time it happened, Eagles has gone off with victories.

By 2022, the statue was dressed in New York Giants equipment prior to their matchup against the Eagles in the divisional round. Eagles won that match 38-7. The following week, the statue was dressed in San Francisco 49ers equipment before Niners arrived in the Philadelphia for the NFC championship match. Eagles won the match, 31-7.

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When Eagles won their first Super Bowl in the 2017 season, the statue was also dressed in opposing team equipment.

Prior to the season’s NFC championship match between Eagles and the Minnesota Vikings, the statue was draped in a Vikings jersey, and Eagles won 38-7. Before the Super Bowl, someone placed a New England Patriots jersey on the statue and Eagles beat Patriots 41-33 to claim their first Super Bowl title.

The vandalism became so frequent that Kansas City Chiefs Tight-end Travis Kelce pleaded his own fan base not to dress the statue in any Chiefs equipment ahead of the Super Bowl in 2023. Chiefs won that match 38-35.

“Chiefs, don’t touch F — Ing Rocky Memorial!” Kelce said during an episode of February 2023 of his podcast, “New Heights.”

“Don’t do it, and definitely don’t put a # 87 on it!”

Former Eagles Center Jason Kelce, who played against Travis and Chiefs in the game theorized that the culprit was an Eagles fan.

“I have to be honest. I think someone from Philadelphia is doing this now,” said Jason Kelce.

“I don’t think this is an opposing team thing at this time. There’s no way that opposing teams continue to do this. I am convinced there is a Philadelphia fan putting these jerseys on Rocky -The statue just to get everyone to fire up.

“So keep doing it. I guarantee it. There’s no way. For that has happened every single match. Giants did it. 49ers did it. There will probably be a Chiefs jersey on it this week.”

Now Washington is up and will look at breaking the trend.

It will be the first time rivals meet in a conference championship match and mark a highlight of a rivalry that has been dormant in recent decades due to Washington’s inability to win in the playoffs since the 1990s.

The 2024 season was the first since 2005 when Washington won a playoff match, and the first since 1991 when the franchise reached the conference championship.