Connor Barwin has a tattoo of the Detroit skyline sketched on his right arm, but in nearly every other way, he’s a Philly diehard. (Some fans have wondered online whether it’s actually the Philadelphia skyline — it’s not.)

The former linebacker moved here in 2013 to play for the Eagles and “fell in love with Philly pretty quickly,” he said.

During his first season, Barwin, 39, launched the Make the World Better Foundation to fund revitalizations of city parks and playgrounds. He lived in Center City and rode SEPTA to practice.

Even when he left to play for the Rams in Los Angeles in 2017 and the Giants in New York in 2018, he maintained his civic devotion, reminding Pennsylvanians from afar to register to vote. In 2018, he moved back for good, settling in Fishtown with his wife, his now eight-year-old son and his five-year-old daughter. He reads The Inquirer in print every Sunday.

His foundation hosts a yearly benefit concert and has transformed the Vare Recreation Center in Gray’s Ferry and Waterloo Playground in Kensington, among others.

Barwin now works for the Eagles as head of football development and strategy. On his perfect day, he orders the same breakfast he’s eaten roughly 199 times before, (quietly) roots for his kids from the sideline of their soccer games, and spends several happy hours at The Linc.

I’m sleeping in, and waking up around seven — on my own and not with my kids jumping in my bed. I have quiet time with my wife. I still get the physical paper delivered on Sundays, and if I can get 30 minutes to read it before my kids wake up, that’s the start of a perfect day.

All of us get on our bikes and ride over to Cafe La Maude. I don’t know how I discovered it, but I’ve been going there for about 12 years. I get the open-faced burrito. I’ve probably been there 200 times, and I’ve ordered the open-faced burrito 199 times. I hear they have a lot of other great things on their menu, but I don’t waver.

We bike home. It’s about a mile, and when you’re with two young kids, you have to take your time. Cycling is the perfect thing because it gets me outside, it gets me with my family, and we’re all getting some exercise.

We go watch my kids play soccer in a local club. You just can’t forget the chairs because there’s usually not seating. On my perfect day, I’m sitting and watching both of them from the same vantage point.

I try to let them have that space and for their coach to do the coaching, and I just try to observe. There’s three things that are most important: to have fun, be a good teammate, and play hard. And if kids are doing that, they’re getting what they should be getting out of sports.

Around the block from where we live is a great little corner store, D&C Deli. We’ll walk down and get hoagies from there. I get the Italian, my wife gets the turkey. My kids get turkey and cheese or tuna. It’s one of the great parts about living in the city.

I drop off the family. I get dressed and get whatever I need. Then I’m heading down to the Eagles stadium to be there three-plus hours before the 4:25 game.

I run the stadium stairs, taking in the stadium before it fills up. It’s a tradition that I like to do since I stopped playing.

I love seeing and talking to the people who work in the stadium. I have some fun conversations with them about what they think about the game. They play a big role in the game day experience, so I enjoy that. And then I have my responsibilities before a game.

I’m locked into my role. There’s a focus and intensity to it. I often get asked, do I miss not being a player anymore? I would say I don’t really miss it because I enjoy still being a part of it, and the intensity and competition that comes with it.

The Eagles win. After the game, I hang out with my family and other families in the stadium for an hour or so to let traffic die down. Maybe on a perfect day it’s not a close game, so people leave early and there’s less traffic.

When I played, I always got Santucci’s pizza after home games. Now I go back and forth between Santucci’s and Pizzeria Beddia. If I’m ordering Santucci’s, it’s a mushroom pizza. If I’m at Beddia, we’re usually getting the corn pie. My wife’s favorite is the spinach. And we get the plain as well.

We put the kids to bed, and then my wife and I have a Lambrusco.

The conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.