The last time Kyle Pitts was at Lincoln Financial Field, he watched the pregame fireworks right outside the stadium and thought about what it would be like to experience it all as a player.

The former Archbishop Wood star and current Atlanta Falcons tight end got a chance to find out for himself on Monday, seven years after watching the Eagles’ NFC championship win over the Minnesota Vikings. The Falcons’ meeting with the Eagles on Monday night was Pitts’ first game in his hometown since transferring to the University of Florida in 2018.

It is the latest chapter in the Pitts family’s career in Philadelphia sports, originally started by Pitts’ grandfather, Sonny Pitts, who died of prostate cancer just over a year ago after decades as a well-known referee in local high school sports.

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“He was a renegade in the Philadelphia sports community in general,” Kyle Pitts said. “From the early days until a few years ago. In the basketball community, the PIAA, the Catholic League, he was well known. He definitely left his mark on it.”

Kyle Pitts was close to both of his grandfathers. When he was young, Sonny would often drive him to practice and introduce him to his fellow referees who officiated football and basketball games in the public and Catholic leagues.

At first, Sonny wanted his grandson to focus on basketball, but Kyle’s father, Kelly, knew his passion lay elsewhere. Although Kyle wasn’t the tallest child – he shot up in high school, growing six inches in four years – Sonny was primarily a basketball referee and could see a future for Kyle on the court.

As Kyle gained respect and notoriety as a tight end, they talked sports on long drives from the various training facilities in the area, and yet their conversations always turned to basketball.

“Just work ethic and always trying to be better than the next guy,” Pitts said of his grandfather’s arguments. “He always brought it back to basketball. He was just always showing me basketball moves.”

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As Pitts established himself as the best tight end in college football and one of the top prospects in the 2021 NFL Draft, Sonny finally acknowledged that his son and grandson made the right decision in choosing to study football.

“Before he died, we were driving in the car and he said, ‘You know what? You were right,'” Kelly Pitts said. “That’s all he said: ‘You were right.’ He didn’t have to say anything else, I already knew what he was talking about.”

Despite being a two-time state football champion with Archbishop Wood and being selected as the No. 4 overall pick in the 2021 draft, Pitts still believes his grandfather’s legacy in the region overshadows his own.

Known as “Mr. Sonny” to those he met through his work as a referee, he was one of the few officials who rarely had to show a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association ID to gain free admission to games.

Eddie Simpson, a longtime friend of Sonny’s and fellow official, said that for highly anticipated games like the Catholic League championship games at the Palestra, tickets would even be waiting for him at the gate.

“When you go with Sonny, they just let you through the door,” Simpson said. “It was like walking with a king. ‘Oh, he’s with you? Come in!’ There was no Public League game, no Suburban One game or anything, although we could have gotten in anyway, they just knew him from all the years before.”

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Kelly Pitts added, “If you go to a basketball game and hear someone say ‘Mr. Sonny,’ they know who you’re talking about. That speaks for itself. I’m talking about girls basketball, boys basketball, kids basketball, all of that, they knew him all over town because of his work.”

Sonny attended some of Kyle’s games in Gainesville before his illness made it too difficult, but he was instrumental in his grandson choosing the University of Florida. Simpson said Kyle’s games were “watching dates” for Sonny, and he also called him on Saturdays to discuss the referees’ decisions and inform him of the transfer.

“He was so happy and so proud of Kyle,” Simpson added. “Of course, every Saturday when Florida was on, it was must-see TV. And he just kept getting better. And I was so proud, not just because I knew him, but because I knew what kind of man he was becoming.”

Kelly Pitts added: “It was great for him to see his grandson get all the accolades he got and play at all levels. That was one of the things he wanted to see before he died: see him play in Florida and play in the pros. And that’s what happened. He had the chance to experience that.”

Kyle Pitts will be greeting a lot of family members at Monday night’s game, although neither he nor his father knows the exact number. His Southeastern Conference schedule made local games nearly impossible while he was in college, and his three years in the NFL included games in New York and Washington. But his first visit to Lincoln Financial Field since he was a teenager has brought him plenty of calls and texts that he “forwards” to his parents.

“It’s going to be great to see him play in Philadelphia,” Kelly Pitts said. “Because he never had the chance to play here. … It’s going to be a lot like when he first played in college, the excitement, the hustle and bustle, the lights.”

Don’t forget the fireworks.

The Eagles play the Atlanta Falcons in Week 2. Join Eagles reporters Olivia Reiner and EJ Smith as they analyze the hottest storylines surrounding the team. Matchday Centrallive from Lincoln Financial Field.