Rob McElhenney watches Eagles game on his phone during the Emmys
If there was an Emmy for best award show multitasker, it would go to Rob McElhenney.
The actor attended Monday's Emmy Awards with his "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" castmates, who presented the best talk series category. But there was one problem for McElhenney: The Emmys were scheduled for the same night as a playoff game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. McElhenney, who was born in Philadelphia, is famously a major Eagles fan.
But McElhenney made clear where his priorities lie when he shared a photo on X, formerly Twitter, of himself watching the game on his phone while in the audience at the Emmys.
"Who schedules the Emmys the same night as the @eagles #gobirds #FlyEaglesFly," he wrote, sharing a photo taken by his wife and co-star, Kaitlin Olson.
Unfortunately for McElhenney, the Eagles were defeated by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during their Monday game, losing 32 to 9. But the night wasn't a total wash for the actor. In a follow-up post, he shared a photo of himself holding an Emmy award and joked, "Worth it I guess."
Emmy winners list'The Bear', 'Succession' win as 'The Last of Us,' 'Ted Lasso' shut out
McElhenney, Olson and their "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" co-stars Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton and Danny DeVito presented the best talk series Emmy to "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah," but not before poking fun at the lack of awards love their own show has received. The series, which is going on 17 seasons, is the longest-running live-action sitcom in TV history.
"We've been on the air since 2005," Howerton said. "I've never even been here."
"Yeah, hang on, have you guys been doing this every single year without us?" Day quipped.
2024 Emmy Awardsbiggest moments, from Christina Applegate to Kieran Culkin
But McElhenney pointed out he did receive Emmys attention this year, as his sports documentary "Welcome To Wrexham" won five awards, including best unstructured reality program. McElhenney serves as producer on the show, which centers on the soccer club he owns with Ryan Reynolds. He told the Television Academy in a backstage interview that he never expected "Welcome To Wrexham" to resonate to the degree that it has.
"We thought maybe it would do well in the sports community, but to transcend that and to just be a part of the television pantheon at this point is a true honor," he said.
In 2023, McElhenney appeared on Jason and Travis Kelce's "New Heights" podcast and explained he attempted to buy an Eagles jacket autographed by Jason's wife Kylie for $62,000 in an auction for charity, but was outbid by a mysterious person — who turned out to be his own wife.