Harrison Phillips got married in the offseason and went on an international honeymoon. His travels took him all over Europe: Amsterdam, Italy, and Germany. Occasionally, someone overseas recognized him.
“Every once in a while, while on our honeymoon…you’d get stopped by Vikings fans, like, ‘Are you Harrison Phillips?’” he said after the Minnesota Vikings’ 23-17 win over the New York Jets in London. “That was really cool.”
Perhaps it’s unsurprising that there are Vikings fans all over the world. The game has grown abroad since 1983, when Minnesota played a lightly attended preseason game against the then-St. Louis Cardinals in Wembley. The Vikings are 4-0 across the pond, including victories over the New Orleans Saints two years ago and Aaron Rodgers’ Jets early Sunday.
The bigger surprise is that they recognized Phillips. As a nose tackle, he jokes that his job is “to get (peed) on.” He’s supposed to draw double teams that open rushing lanes for Jonathan Greenard, Dallas Turner, and Andrew Van Ginkel. That he’s recognized in Amsterdam or Rome indicates a certain knowledge and passion for the NFL worldwide.
“They know football over here for sure,” said Phillips, “and I think it’s just going to keep growing.”
The Vikings and Jets drew over 61,000 fans to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for their Week 5 contest. The stadium is home to the eponymous English Premier League team. However, they built the stadium to host NFL games regularly. There are two locker rooms large enough to house 53-man rosters, and the natural turf retracts under the stands to allow NFL players to play on artificial turf.
“It felt like a home game,” said Phillips. “I know there were a lot of British fans, but European fans and fans from Minnesota traveled very far to come here. It was really cool.”
Tottenham’s playing surface is different than that of most NFL stadiums. The astroturf blades are smaller, and there is sand between the blades but none of the black tire-like pebbles. Minnesota and New York’s players slipped periodically throughout the game. Still, the playing surface was better than the Arena Corinthians grass the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles played on in Brazil.
Phillips went all-out for the London game. He and Harrison Smith dressed as characters from Peaky Blinders.
“I don’t really put suits on too often,” said Phillips. “But I’m a huge fan of the show Peaky Blinders, which starts in Birmingham. As they progress, they come down to London, Camden Town. Anyway, I’m just a huge fan. I just watch it over and over and over again.
“Cillian Murphy is probably my favorite actor, and wanted to make sure that I have a suit that Tommy Shelby would approve of.”
Phillips’ outfit endeared him to the English crowd, but he also built connections with German fans over the summer. During his honeymoon, Phillips met the president of the German Vikings fan club, who toured him around the country.
“Met up with the head of the Vikings fan club in Germany,” he said. “I was able to go speak with like 100 of them and hang out with the president and his family. [I] had like a whole two days with them in Germany, and they took us around to Munich and a different region over there, so it was really fun and have a great connection with them because of it.”
Phillips’ time in Europe was more limited during his trip for the Vikings game. Minnesota arrived in London for a Friday practice, had a day off on Saturday, and then played at 2:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. CT) on Sunday. Many of the players stayed at the hotel, which was just outside the London city limits, on Saturday. However, they took time after the game to sightsee on Sunday night before they travel home ahead of the Week 6 bye.
“My wife’s a huge fan of the royals and Buckingham Palace and all that stuff,” said Phillips, “so I think we’re going to try to get down that way.”
Buckingham Palace may be the highlight for his wife, but Phillips will forever remember sacking Rodgers in London.
“I’m a huge Aaron Rodgers fan,” he said. “I would say of the quarterbacks playing today, he’s my favorite to play against because he’s the smartest one out there, Hall of Famer without a doubt.”
Phillips may forever be the fire hydrant at the dog show that gets peed on, but he got his highlight moment. Should he return to Europe, Phillips shouldn’t be surprised if he gets stopped more often. He sacked one of the greatest quarterbacks in the game in front of 61,000 fans. Next time he visits, he may need to dress in Peaky Blinders garb just to fit in.