In between the guttural sounds of agony after a bad call by the ref, and the riotous screams after each score, the thousands of Eagles’s fans that took over Xfinity Live! Sunday night for Super Bowl LIX were happy to talk about their team and what the Birds mean to the people of Philadelphia.
Wading through a sea of Kelly Green jerseys and white hand towels, it was clear that these fans – 8,000 deep by one estimate – have a strong connection with their hometown football team, and will do anything to support them.
“I haven’t seen energy like this for any other sports team ever,” says George Southworth of Salisbury, Maryland. “The Eagles are a thousand miles away, but the fans are standing outside in 20 degree weather just to cheer them on. It’s a rabid dedication for sure.”
If you are from the Greater Philadelphia area, or live south of Interstate 195 in New Jersey, that rabid dedication to the Birds is not just a responsibility – it’s a birthright.
Yet the loyalty these fans have to the Birds sometimes seems to have little to do with a love of football – childhood memories, connections with friends and family, and the hope for a second chance were what most fans talked about throughout the night.
Mindy Russell, a South Philly teacher with thin dreads and a radiant smile, explained that she knows almost nothing about the gridiron, but has been a diehard Eagles fan all of her life because of her father.
“My dad used to take my brother and I to see Randall Cunningham and Jerome Brown on Sundays. We didn’t have a lot of money growing up, but we felt so special walking into that stadium,” Russell says. “When he died, I found out that he had sold things he loved and worked overtime just to take us, and that makes the games I watch now so much more meaningful.”
The watch party saw all eyes glued to the 32-foot TV inside Xfinity Live!, while a crowd of over 1,500 braved the cold to watch the Eagles trounce the Kansas City Chiefs on a 24-foot LED video wall outside in the On Demand Theater. The venue staff mingled with the patrons, everyone on the same team for one cold winter night on Pattison Avenue.
“The Eagles are always the underdog, and even when we’re doing great, the sports world wants to bash the team,” says Steven Poltier, 46. “We take that personal…I take that personal because I have faced some real adversity in my life and beat the odds. The Birds have been counted out so many times, but somehow they always seem to get another shot to win, and they do it.”
As the night carried on and the game began to look like a blowout, wings, shots, and cigars were passed around as couples huddled up against the fire pits on the outdoor patio, drunk cuddling and telling stories about team veterans and snowball fights with Santa.
After the Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl LIX, the victors danced in the locker room in New Orleans drinking champagne as the City of Brotherly Love started to migrate towards Broad Street to celebrate. Leading up to City Hall, I saw two men hugging and weeping inconsolably, leaning on one another as they wobbled slightly from the beer and the wind.
With Lincoln Financial Field in the distance and fireworks exploding in front of the Wells Fargo Center, the pair of plumbers from Huntington Park smiled as they wiped away cold tears and laughed.
“We have been waiting for this moment for so many years,” says Fred Reynolds. “Rich and I became friends 40 years ago because of the Eagles. Our working-class families didn’t socialize in the neighborhood, but they would make us all get together at his folks place and watch the game.”
Rich grinned and started chanting “E-A-G-L-E-S-Eagles!!! I’ve known this guy my whole life, and it’s all because of the Birds.”
