Rocky Statue At Center Of Philly-New England Mayor Super Bowl Bet

PHILADELPHIA – Some things are inherently "Philadelphia:" cheesesteaks, the Liberty Bell, Mummers, and of course Rocky Balboa, among others. So when Mayor Jim Kenney and Brockton, Massachusetts Mayor Bill Carpenter met, the iconic Rocky statue's appearance was put on the line.

The two mayors, in a showing of good-natured sports rivalry, made a bet on the outcome of the 2018 Super Bowl: if the New England Patriots win, the fictional yet seminal South Philly boxer's statue at the Philadelphia Art Museum would be forced to wear Pats gear.

Conversely, if – no, when – the Eagles win, the statue of real life undefeated heavyweight boxing champ Rocky Marciano, who is a native to Brockton, will have to don Birds gear.

Brockton is about 20 miles south of Boston.

In a video posted on Carpenter's Facebook page (which we have featured below), Kenney says if Balboa is forced to put on a Tom Brady jersey or any other Patriots merch, he doesn't imagine it would last long.

"We'd have to Crisco the Rocky statue so somebody doesn't climb up it to take it off," Kenney joked, referring to the infamous effort to prevent unruly Birds fans from climbing light poles following the massive win over the Minnesota Vikings on Jan. 21.

If not Crisco, the city would likely have to put fencing up around the tourist attraction like it recently had during some improvement work.

(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)