Eagles Cooper DeJean and Reed Blankenship ride the wave of their popularity with the ‘Exciting Mics’ podcast
The show's name plays off their "Exciting Whites" nickname. "We’re having fun with it," Blankenship said at DeJean's charity softball game in Des Moines, Iowa.
DES MOINES, Iowa — Cooper DeJean was the main attraction at the Iowa Cubs’ Principal Park on Sunday, but you didn’t have to walk far through its concourse to find someone wearing an “Exciting Whites” T-shirt.
The nickname given to the Eagles’ tandem in the secondary, cornerback DeJean and safety Reed Blankenship, was a tribute to something that isn’t seen too often in the NFL: two white defensive backs starting on the same team. They’ve embraced the name, as have their teammates, and even wore matching ’90s style “Exciting Whites” T-shirts ahead of the team’s Thursday Night Football matchup against the Washington Commanders in November.
The pair’s relationship, on and off the field, led to the creation of their Exciting Mics podcast last month. The show’s title plays off their nickname, which came with the help of sports agency Athletes First and the digital production team GOAT Farm Media, according to Blankenship. The podcast also was created in a partnership with the ALLCITY Network.
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“They kind of brainstormed the idea, the name of it, and we checked off on it and just ran with it,” Blankenship, 26, said on Sunday. The podcast “was one of those things that it was mentioned later in the year, and didn’t know how it would form together. And all of a sudden, we got ... the right people in the building and went off. We’re having fun with it. We’re having fun with all the guests we have. And we get to connect on a closer level, especially with some of our teammates.”
In the lead-up to the Eagles’ Super Bowl run, Blankenship hinted that the next project he and DeJean would take up would be “starting a little podcast together,” and he kept his word. The early returns for the podcast have been positive. According to Podscan, Exciting Mics is the No. 10 football podcast in the United States.
Saquon Barkley was the first Eagles teammate to appear on the podcast, and last week’s episode featured Philly rapper Gillie Da King. Blankenship says the podcast allows DeJean and him to establish a “different connection” with their guests.
“It’s been a new little challenge, trying that side of things with the media side, but we have a great team around us who’s helped us a lot,” said DeJean, 22. “I get to have good conversations outside of the locker room, which is awesome with some teammates and some other people within the city. It’s been fun.”
» READ MORE: The legend of the ‘Exciting Whites’: How Eagles Reed Blankenship and Cooper DeJean formed a bond
DeJean has kept himself busy this offseason interacting with fans, from hosting football camps to competing in celebrity basketball games and hosting his charity softball game on Sunday. Isaiah Rodgers, the former Eagles defensive back who’s now with the Vikings, said “just walking around through a daily life, you don’t really think [DeJean’s] that athletic. He could pretty much do it all.”
While DeJean, the Eagles’ 2024 second-round pick, was known as a multisport athlete growing up in Odebolt, Iowa, Blankenship also competed in multiple sports as a football and baseball player at West Limestone High School in Lester, Ala. He showed off those baseball chops on Sunday, finishing third in the home run derby and hitting a home run in DeJean’s celebrity softball game.
At one point, Blankenship thought he’d “go to the [major] leagues,” but he chose football instead, starring at Middle Tennessee State before becoming a key starter in the Eagles’ secondary as an undrafted free agent.
Whether it’s on the field, in the Philly area, or behind the mic, Blankenship and DeJean are capitalizing on their moment in the limelight and embracing their “Exciting Whites” nickname.
“You look around, you see everybody wearing those [Exciting Whites] shirts,” Blankenship said. “And it’s funny, because [the fans] are the ones that came up with the nickname; we kind of embraced it and just ran with it. People say one thing, keep on saying it, and it just clicks, and there it is. So it sticks. I’m happy we’re having fun with it, and it’s been a blast.”
Added DeJean: “Just to feel love from the city, for us to have success last year — and obviously, win the Super Bowl — was awesome, and that made it even better. Now we’ve got to get back to work and try and do it again.”