Clothing racks loaded with sports jerseys fill the wood-paneled living room of Walter “Gritty” Shaw’s Juniata rowhome.
Every week during the NFL season, he arranges the shirts in his front window, alerting neighbors and passersby on Bennington Street of the upcoming matchup for the Philadelphia Eagles.
Two full-size tops, including one representing the opposing team, are placed in the center, with the home squad on the right-hand side. Surrounding the main jerseys are smaller, children’s Eagles shirts – which Shaw rotates, leaving only a mini Kelly green Randall Cunningham piece.
“No matter what, if we’re a lousy team or not, I’m going to do it,” he added.
Shaw said he began decorating his window about a decade ago, when he was feeling down in the aftermath of a divorce and took up the hobby of collecting jerseys. He enjoys the reactions of neighbors, and he sends photographs of the setup to his friends.
“They want to see my window,” Shaw, a 59-year-old mail carrier who is deaf, told Metro. “I get to see what they say.”
Though he is a fan of all of the city’s professional sports teams, Shaw only creates jersey shrines for football. For other sports, there are too many games – plus that would require him to multiply his shirt collection.
Now and then, Shaw will make an exception. When the Eagles had a bye week earlier this season, he hung up the jerseys of former 76er Dikembe Mutombo and former Phillie Pete Rose after both had recently died.
He picks up the jerseys at thrift stores, and, aside from the clothing, his home is filled with other sports memorabilia.
On Monday night, a purple Baltimore Ravens No. 52 Ray Lewis laid nearby, in anticipation of Sunday’s Eagles game. Shaw was wearing a bright orange No. 11 Travis Konecny T-shirt under his blue button-up U.S. Postal Service top while tuning into the Flyers game on television.
His sports fanaticism began as a boy with the hockey team, and he has adopted “Gritty” as a nickname. Shaw took a liking to the mascot, introduced in 2018, and he has pictures of him taped to his USPS scanner and time card. Family members and residents who live along his route have presented him with Gritty-related gifts.
“Nobody really liked it when he (Gritty) came out the first time,” he added. “I was always Walt. I’m changing it. I’m going to be Gritty.”
Shaw also thrifts bar stools and tables, customizing them with painted Philly sports or Penn State logos for friends and family. In addition, Shaw has crafted a podium and props, such as a circus tent and drum set, for nearby Scanlon Ice Rink’s figure skating program, which is led by his adult daughter.
He has delivered mail for 17 years, and, on Monday, he did not get home until after 7:30 p.m. Shaw works out of the Germantown post office and serves West Mount Airy.
“I have a long route, but people there love me, so I’m not leaving,” added Shaw.
Shaw has built a sports-based rapport with his postal customers. Thomas Devaney, a poet and Haverford College professor, lives along the route and is one of the many people with whom Shaw shares photos of his window.
“Our relationship is built mostly on small talk, bonding over games, players, hard losses, and big wins,” Devaney told Metro. “I love how sports give us a chance to connect.”
“Around town, you see people decorating windows for the holidays, but for Walt, it’s all Philly sports, all the time,” he added. “I can’t believe he gets all those jerseys for every game. Walt’s game-day jersey window is ground-up Philly folk art – it’s personal and it’s public.”
