What's better than one Lombardi Trophy? Two Lombardi Trophies.

For lifelong best friends Michael Howanski and James Knox, the Eagles winning Super Bowl LIX and partying down Broad Street once again was a full circle moment.

It all began in 2018 after the Eagles won Super Bowl LII, their first in franchise history. Howanski made a duct-taped replica of the Lombardi Trophy, which his family and Knox had treated like it was the real thing – kissing it and raising it up for the World Champion Eagles.

The Delaware County natives brought the replica trophy down to Broad Street to celebrate in the streets with thousands of fans, but it didn't stop there, as they knew an official parade was soon to follow.

"For the parade, we knew we had to go bigger. That's when our five-foot version of the Duct Tape Lombardi was born," Howanski said. "At that point, we were 30 years old, and we've always been the class clowns. Just always wanting to have a good time. So, I had the idea to build a giant one, and James was on board."

Howanski built the base for the trophy and Knox put together the difficult task of making the football part of the trophy completely out of duct tape.

After five hours and an estimated 3-5 rolls of duct tape, the five-foot Lombardi Trophy replica was ready for the parade.

"James has always been mathematically inclined and he's very artistic as well. So, he kind of took the lead, he was the engineer to come up with a lot of ideas and we joke that I'm Steve Jobs and he's Steve Wozniak," Howanski said.

"As we carried it through the streets, we saw firsthand how sports bring people together – strangers high-fiving, generations bonding, the entire city glowing in green. This wasn't just about football; it was about community, civic pride, and love for our city."

The trophy was such a hit at the parade that Eagles players saw it and brought it on the Parade buses with them. Players passed it around throughout and it even made its way into former tight end Brent Celek's locker at Lincoln Financial Field.

They were able to retrieve and keep their creation with the help of Eagles Ticket Operations Manager Doug Lesser and Vice President of Fan Experience and Sustainability Norman Vossschulte, who helped track them down after the parade.

Fast forward to 2025, the Eagles claimed the Lombardi Trophy again in dominant fashion with a 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Howanski and Knox were ready to go even bigger with duct tape trophy number two despite the changes in their lives since the first Super Bowl.

"Naturally, James and I knew we had to up the ante. James, ever the dreamer, set his sights on a 12-foot masterpiece, but reality brought us back down to earth. Time constraints, costs, and the sheer logistics of moving such a behemoth meant we had to find a balance. In the end, we built a bigger and better version, one that again symbolized the heart and soul of Philadelphia," Howanski said.

"Between working along side our amazing wives to raise our children while also balancing our careers (James as a Senior Product Manager at ADT and Michael as the Specialty Team Nursing Supervisor of Orthopedics at Jefferson Methodist Hospital), this project remained a testament to our lifelong friendship and shared love for sports. Since first grade, we've played, cheered, and celebrated together, and to this day, we get to share these moments with the people we love most."

The second creation of the duct-taped Lombardi stood at eight feet tall and took 10 rolls of tape to make. It took the two a total of 20 hours to design and create it.

This time, they wanted to make the trophy look even more like the real thing. Knox used a 3D modeling software called SketchUp to make sure all of the angles were the same as the Lombardi Trophy.

Knox, who went to school at Temple for architecture, used SketchUp in one of his classes and was able to find a publicly available replica of the trophy to scale up.

"The second one was definitely more proportionately correct. The first one I would say is a little bit more spontaneous to where we were kind of more mentally preparing for the second," Knox said. "The first one was more of a wire frame that was wrapped in duct tape. The second one was built in layers.

"We took a sectional approach to where we built each layer individually and beveled it at the right angles to make sure you got that round effect. What we learned from the first one was that the wireframe didn't give it that inflated football effect. So, we definitely wanted to work with circles and take that sectional approach with foam so that it was more durable and more proportionate to the actual trophy."

Seeing how the first trophy resonated with players and fans, the Eagles wanted to make sure the second one would be with the team on their journey from Lincoln Financial Field to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The trophy couldn't even fit through a doorway, so Lesser picked it up in a minivan and brought it to the parade on Feb. 14.

Howanski and Knox also brought the original duct-taped trophy to commemorate the full circle moment.

"We saw Saquon Barkley and Cooper DeJean come by and we just got so excited that when Jalyx Hunt came by, I kind of tossed it into the street," Howanski said. "Jalyx picked it up and then all the players started grabbing it. I believe it was Tanner McKee who carried it over to the buses to bring it up. So, the original and 2.0 made it onto the buses again."

The second trophy has an air tag on it and is now sitting in Lesser's office. It will return to Howanski's home, but due to its size, it will likely need to go outside under some cover in his backyard.

Understandably, Michael's wife, Taylor, and James' wife, Stephanie, didn't think the giant trophies would match their home decor.

"So, James' wife would not allow the trophy in their house," Howanski said jokingly. "She's been great, but that's a little too far, so we don't really have the space for it all year round. I plan on having it Week 1 when they kick off the season. I live close to Lincoln Financial Field, so I plan on wheeling or driving it down to the tailgates."

Knox has used his architecture background for projects outside of the trophy, but his audience for those is a little different than Eagles players and fans.

"Ever since we had kids, the motivations for side projects have definitely shifted more towards appealing to Liam, my son, who was constantly asking, 'Did the Eagles win yet? Are you going to build the trophy?' He was more excited for the trophy building than he was for the actual outcome of the game," Knox said.

Howanski and Knox have plans to take the trophies around for a tour of Philadelphia, including trips to Independence Hall, Boathouse Row, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Liberty Bell, and more in hopes to spread the joy and beauty the parades have brought the city.

And if the Eagles are able to bring home a third Lombardi Trophy, the two best friends plan on going even bigger with the next duct tape trophy.

"I wouldn't be shocked if it happens again. So, we're ready for next year and we're definitely going bigger, maybe 10 feet or 12 feet. I'll have to have a meeting with James, so we can talk it over," Howanski said.

"Sports, for me, is a transcendent force in the human experience. It embodies lessons, emotions, and values that extend far beyond just a regular game. Being with my family and all my friends and my neighbors, it's just the perfect way to celebrate civic pride. And we just love Philadelphia so much and see how great it can be. So, seeing all that come together from, although a silly, dumb trophy made of tape, it's also signifies everything that we care about." – Written by Liam Wichser