Actor Mark Wahlberg is one of Boston’s biggest celebrity sports fans. But the Las Vegas resident also has a soft spot for the Eagles and Raiders.
Wahlberg, who poured shots of his Flecha Azul tequila on Sunday at the grand opening of the Yahoo Sportsbook powered by William Hill at The Venetian, played former Philadelphia player Vince Papale in the film “Invincible.”
Papale made it to the NFL at age 30 despite never playing college football.
“The Eagles are definitely my second team. That was the only team that I actually got to put on a uniform and play for, so they’ve got a soft spot in my heart, for sure,” he said. “That was the only time I could stomach the Patriots losing in the Super Bowl. Losing to the Giants twice, I still hate them with a passion.
“I will always root for Boston at the end of the day. But I have no problem rooting for the Raiders, Knights and Aces, and hopefully they’ll have a baseball team and a basketball team in the future.”
Sportsbooks reported a solid winning day in NFL Week 1. But their two biggest losses were on the Eagles and Raiders.
The Raiders rallied for a 17-16 win at Denver as 3-point underdogs behind Jimmy Garoppolo’s two touchdown passes to Jakobi Meyers.
