IShowSpeed dines at Jim’s with Paul George, fields race challenge from Saquon Barkley and more during Philly visit
Popular streamer iShowSpeed spent a day in Philly and had a few debates with Saquon Barkley and Paul George.
Popular streamer Darren Watkins Jr., better known as IShowSpeed, has been traveling to different cities across the United States as he livestreams his Speed Does America Tour. The 20-year-old streamer, who has collected over 40 million followers on social media, has made stops at Greenville, N.C., Washington D.C., and Miami, Fla., where he toured the home of Tom Brady.
On Tuesday morning, the Ohio native continued his tour in the city of Philadelphia. As he live streamed to over 40,000 people watching on YouTube, he navigated through the city — trying cheesesteaks, visiting different spots, and getting into debates with some popular Philly athletes.
Here’s everything you missed in Speed’s livestream.
Trying Jim’s Steaks with Paul George
Speed walked through the streets of Philadelphia as fans gathered around him, trying to get his attention. As he entered different shops in the city — including Pat’s King of Steaks and Philly Cannoli King — they followed. As he sat in a barber’s chair at a local barbershop in Philly, they swarmed in front of the shop with their iPhones recording outside the glass window.
Once Speed was done getting a lineup, he left the chair, paid the barber and made his way into the car. There, he found a special guest waiting inside: Sixers’ forward Paul George.
“Dang, you got motion boy,” George said. “You the president, dog.”
With kids riding their bicycles alongside the car, the nine-time All-Star sat beside Speed as they drove to the next destination — a spot that George was excited to introduce to the streamer.
“We’re about to go to Jim’s,” George said. “We’re about to eat a good [expletive] cheesesteak. Pat’s is cool. But we’re gonna go to Jim’s now. I had to learn the hard way. In Philly, Pat’s is cool. Don’t discredit Pat’s. But you have to have some variety. You have a lot of sleepers around here.”
Speed only visited Philly once before but he didn’t have time to experience the city, making an appearance for WrestleMania XL at Lincoln Financial Field. So this time around he wanted to learn from a Philly native. Unfortunately, that’s not George.
“So, you from Philly,” Speed asked.
“[Expletive] Nah, I’m from Cali,” George said.
“What you in Philly for,” Speed asked.
“[Expletive], I play here,” George responded.
When they finally arrived to Jim’s Steaks, the two ordered the same thing: a cheesesteak with American cheese and no onions. The only difference was George asked for ketchup to put on his cheesesteak — leading to a heated debate between the two.
“You put ketchup on your Philly cheesesteak,” Speed asked in disgust. “It’s not even a Philly cheesesteak anymore… it’s a Philly cheesesteak. Not a burger.”
As George defended himself, Speed asked for mayonnaise on his cheesesteak, which led to more debate. Once they eventually sat down to eat, George asked Speed to try it with ketchup. He did.
“Wait, chat,” Speed said. “Ketchup might actually be the one though. What’s this spot called? Jim’s? [Expletive], this one’s crazy. This is a good nine out of 10.”
Saquon Barkley challenges Speed to a race
After lunch with George, he headed over to the NovaCare Complex where he was welcomed by Eagles chief of security Dom “Big Dom” DiSandro. During his tour of the facility, Speed met Brandon Graham, Nakobe Dean, Jordan Mailata, Saquon Barkley, and Eagles general manager Howie Roseman.
When Roseman approached Speed in the locker room for a photo, the streamer smiled and asked, “What do you do?” Roseman responded, “I’m the GM.” They walked onto the practice field and Speed ran a few routes with Roseman as quarterback — or at least attempted to.
On Roseman’s first attempt as QB1, he threw a very low, uncatchable pass to Speed. He redeemed himself in a follow up throw but it still resulted in an incompletion. Before Speed left the NovaCare Complex, Mailata approached the 5-foot-9 streamer.
“You looking at me like you want to race,” Mailata said.
“You don’t want to do that, you’re not ready,” Speed responded. Although Mailata wasn’t ready for a race with Speed, Barkley certainly was. The three-time Pro Bowler dapped Speed up and immediately challenged him to a race in the offseason.
Speed, who claims to run a 4.4 40-yard dash, has challenged a number of former athletes to race on livestream, including Robert Griffin III, who he defeated easily. He even competed against Olympic sprinter Noah Lyles in a close race, which he lost.
Barkley is ready to be the next challenger.
“Maybe in the offseason we’ll link up and get a little race going,” Barkley said. “You think you can beat me?”
“One-hundred percent I can beat you,” Speed said. “Because your size. I just know I can beat you.”
After a little back-and-forth, Speed challenged Barkley to a 100-yard race. Instead, Barkley agreed to a 50-yard race in the offseason.
“That’s your best chance at [100-yard],” Barkley said, “50, 60-yard you don’t stand a chance. I’m not an old, retired NFL, washed-up dude. I’m still active.”