October 14, 2016

The Philadelphia Eagles will decide the winner of the 2016 presidential election

By Matt Mullin
PhillyVoice Staff

Matt Mullin/PhillyVoice

Pregame ceremonies prior to the Eagles season opener against the Browns.

What's more important to you – the winner of Sunday's game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Washington Redskins OR the winner of next month's election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump?

Because depending on how you feel about the candidates and where your NFC East loyalties lie, you may have to adjust who you root for this weekend, thanks to a little something called "The Redskins Rule."

Since 1940, when the team moved to Washington, D.C., the result of their final home game prior to a presidential election has correctly predicted the winner in 17* of the 19 cases. And since the Redskins' next two games after facing the Birds are on the road, followed by their bye the final week before the election, it all comes down to Sunday.

*Following the 2000 election, in which Al Gore won the popular vote but lost the election, the rule was slightly modified for those cases. If you chose to include that, it's actually 18 of 19. Read more, here.

How does it work? Well, the rule states that if the Redskins win, then the party that is currently in control of the White House – currently the Democrats – will remain in power. If they lose, the opposing party will win the election. Essentially, if the Eagles win, history tells us that Trump will be the next President of the United States. But if Washington wins, then you can go ahead and pencil in Hillary as the first female president.

Here's a look at how it's played out over the last 75 years...

YR	Election	GM	WAS	Party	Upheld?
2016	Clinton vs. Trump	PHI ?? WAS ??	??	??	??
2012	Obama def. Romney	CAR 21 WAS 13	L	W	N
2008	Obama def. McCain	PIT 23 WAS 6	L	L	Y
2004	Bush def. Kerry	GB 28 WAS 14	L	W	N*
2000	Bush def. Gore	TEN 27 WAS 21	L	L	Y
1996	Clinton def. Dole	IND 16 WAS 31	W	W	Y
1992	Clinton def. Bush	NYG 24 WAS 7	L	L	Y
1988	Bush def. Dukakis	NO 24 WAS 27	W	W	Y
1984	Reagan def. Mondale	ATL 14 WAS 27	W	W	Y
1980	Reagan def. Carter	MIN 39 WAS 14	L	L	Y
1976	Carter def. Ford	DAL 20 WAS 7	L	L	Y
1972	Nixon def. McGovern	DAL 20 WAS 24	W	W	Y
1968	Nixon def. Humphrey	NYG 13 WAS 10	L	L	Y
1964	Johnson def. Goldwater	CHI 20 WAS 27	W	W	Y
1960	Kennedy def. Nixon	CLE 31 WAS 10	L	L	Y
1956	Eisenhower def. Stevenson	CLE 9 WAS 20	W	W	Y
1952	Eisenhower def. Stevenson	PIT 24 WAS 23	L	L	Y
1948	Truman def. Dewey	BOS 21 WAS 59	W	W	Y
1944	Roosevelt def. Dewey	CLE 1o WAS 14	W	W	Y
1940	Roosevelt def. Willkie	PIT 10 WAS 37	W	W	Y

*According to the rule tweak, this would have been considered a win for the Redskins rule, because Bush lost the popular vote in the prior election. Again, read more on that here.

And that could make things quite interesting for some fans this weekend.

If you're an Eagles fan who also happens to be a Trump supporter, then you're in luck; a win for the Birds is a win for the Donald. But if you're on Team Hillary, you may want to be careful what you wish for -- sure, 4-1 sounds nice, but are you ready for President Trump?

Of course, this election season has been unlike anything we've ever seen before, so it shouldn't really surprise anyone if this one doesn't follow tradition (just like in 2012).

Although, if it doesn't -- and your candidate comes out on the losing end -- you'll know who to blame ... the Eagles.

Follow Matt on Twitter: @matt_mullin