Do You Believe in a Philadelphia-Sized Miracle
Generations of Eagles fans from all around the world are desperately hoping Al Michaels makes another historic call Sunday night resulting in the team they bleed green for hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy high up in the sky for the first time ever
Super Bowl 52 marks the third time the Philadelphia Eagles will sprint through those tunnels onto the field for all the marbles. Some fans — like my grandfather — have been around for all of them. Some fans — like myself — weren’t alive in 1981 and our first experience was the culmination of four straight NFC Championship Games leading us to a heartbreaking loss to these same Patriots from New England. And for some fans — like my almost-3-year-old son — this Sunday is finally their chance to see the Eagles play in the big game.
I cannot speak for all fellow fans, but I do believe I can speak for most of them when I say this season has been one filled with optimism, hope, and lots of maybe just maybes, but at the same time there was always a sense of hesitation, worry, and the great unknown. Last season, Philadelphia started 3–0 and every single Eagles fan began to ask themselves the same question: COULD THIS BE OUR YEAR!?! That’s what we do as Philly-sports fans, especially Eagles fans. We get prematurely ecstatic over the slightest glimpse of potential success, we build our hopes up even though we know we shouldn’t, and then we double down on despair in the cruelest, most agonizing ways possible when our teams disappoint by not achieving the desired outcome we demanded in our (sometimes unrealistic) expectations.
But that’s what makes us die hard fans. Philadelphia is a sports town. We are incredible fans. Say what you will about us because you undoubtedly will, even though we’ve heard all the stories multiple times. Everybody wants to repeatedly bring up Santa Claus or batteries getting thrown or cheering injuries or all of the booing, and yes, unfortunately, some of those stories are true, but I’m convinced every fanbase has their outliers. I still recall leaving the Sunday night game where Devin Hester had a 108-yard kickoff return touchdown against the New York Giants only to witness as we hurried to our car three Giants fan repeatedly beating on some poor, helpless Bears fan until the police showed up. Do I think all Giants fans are the scum of the earth? Absolutely not. As a result of that incident, do I believe Giants fans (just like any other franchise’s fans) are capable of doing some really not nice stuff? You bet.
And as die hard fans, we crave a Super Bowl. Not two. Not three. Not four. But just one. Our very first Super Bowl victory. As Philadelphia-sports fans, we’re not the Patriots, San Antonio Spurs, or New York Yankees. Our history is one of lots and lots and lots and lots of losing. Yes, we’ve had moments of some winning, but for anyone this side of 1983 (that’s me), we’ve witnessed a plethora of losses, including major championship heartbreak. The 1985 Stanley Cup Finals. The 1987 Stanley Cup Finals. The 1993 World Series. The 1997 Stanley Cup Finals. The 2001 NBA Finals. And Super Bowl XXXIX to be exact. I lived nearly the first 24 years of my life without seeing a hometown title until the Philadelphia Phillies finally broke through.
I can close my eyes and still recall the 2008 World Series. My parents’ house was the mecca for those five nights in October. Friends and family piled in. You had die hards mixed with fringe fans. Ring bologna, celery, Doritos, and all the milk you could drink. Oktoberfests, IPAs, Boddingtons, and even a little Michelob Ultra. We watched, cheered, yelled, and complained. We were excited, elated, nervous, happy, and uncomfortable all at the same time. We were confident yet concerned and had our fair share of high-fiving and nail biting. It wasn’t until the late, great Harry Kalas made the call we fans will never forget that we could finally relax. It was over and victory tasted amazing. (The celebrations in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania did not include any pole-climbing although there was some bottle throwing — which thankfully avoided landing on the roof of a certain someone’s Mini Cooper.)
As much fun as the Phillies winning the Commissioner’s Trophy brought to Broad Street, including Chase Utley’s parade speech, it will pale in comparison to what the Eagles bringing home the Lombardi Trophy would mean to Philadelphia. The Flyers, Sixers, and Phillies are all greatly loved, but for the vast majority, these are our beloved Eagles. We bleed green for Pederson’s sake. We’re a football city crying out for our most favorite sports team to put the finishing touches on an unprecedented season.
Super Bowl 52 isn’t just for people like me though. It’s for people like my 85-year-old grandfather. He’s the epitome of a blue-collar worker who overcame incredible odds to not only provide for his family to the very best of his abilities but give them a life far beyond what most people would have thought was possible. My grandfather is a lifelong Eagles fan who bleeds green baby! He’s been around for it all — the good seasons, the bad ones, and everything in between. Every Sunday (literally every single Sunday) he gets together with his “Ring of Fire” club in Northampton, Pennsylvania to cheer on their Birds. I so badly want him to have the experience of watching HIS TEAM raise that trophy. As much as I want it, I desire it so much more for him.
It’s also for people like my nearly-3-year-old son. It’s been an interesting season with him. One where we’ve had to balance watching the Eagles versus Handy Manny. One where I’ve had to recently explain (several times) that Wentz has an “owie” and even though you think he’s on the field because you know he’s our quarterback, it’s actually Foles. (For the record — win, lose, or draw — I plan to write a piece on experiencing the 2017 NFL season, especially the playoffs, with my son.) One where we’ve experienced two exciting playoff games together already, and now have had two weeks to build up the anticipation for how incredible this Sunday will be. I’m hopeful this will be the first of many Eagles Super Bowls we get to watch together, but in the event this is our one and only, I’m soaking up every single moment of it with him.
For each and every one of us, this has been an interesting season to say the least. Dependent upon who you talked to or what site you read, most projections for this season had us 7–9, 8–8, or 9–7 at best. Playoffs weren’t on the “experts” radar, a Super Bowl appearance was the unlikeliest of long shots according to practically everyone, and some went to the lengths to criticize Doug Pederson and say he wasn’t a good head coach.
Injuries ran rampant during the 2017 NFL season for a lot of teams, and the Eagles were no exception. We were so excited about Ronald Darby and loved the trade, but right away, in Week 1, we lost him for a good portion of the season. (So grateful he’ll be suiting up on Sunday.) We also lost our boy Caleb Sturgis for the year. We like Sturgis. (And I love saying his last name — just has a nice ring to it.) If you didn’t know, now you know, but in Philadelphia we love Darren Sproles, and we lost him too in Week 3 for the entire season. He’s small yet he’s a beast, he’s so quick and elusive, and it’s been an absolute privilege to watch that man wear the green and black all these years. In Weeks 6 & 7, things continued to get worse as we said goodbye to Chris Maragos, Jason Peters, and Jordan Hicks for the remainder of the season as well. Despite all that, these Eagles continued to fly high, but then the unthinkable happened: Carson James Wentz tore his ACL. He showed incredible heroics playing through a blown knee briefly, but he too was finished. At this point, even though we sat at 11–2, EVERYONE who is a football talking head said Philadelphia’s dream season was OVER! Remember that. We clinched the NFC East title, we then clinched a first-round bye, and we then clinched home-field throughout the playoffs, yet EVERYONE who is a football talking head said we had NO CHANCE to make the Super Bowl. Remember that.
I’ll admit I was nervous for Atlanta; I think most fans were uneasy. The Falcons were a dangerous team with an incredible quarterback and many, many phenomenal weapons. I believed wholeheartedly we could win but I knew it would be tough. The matchup was going to be a good one or so we fans thought, yet the majority of folks outside Philadelphia gave us no shot. Vegas said we were underdogs, the media said we’d be one and done, and most NFL writers were preparing to pen stories of how another Philadelphia Eagles team underachieved.
Watching the game with my son was so fun. The game itself wasn’t pretty at times and there were several moments where we had lumps in our throats, but we performed at exactly the right times to do just enough to win. The 4th & Goal had every Philadelphia fan on the edge of their seats, my wife was biting her nails knowing the outcome of that play spoke volumes for the remainder of our evening, and I just froze as the ball soared through the air. My son’s first Eagles playoff win with his Papa was something to behold.
I actually was more confident for Minnesota; most of my friends and family shared a similar sentiment. The Vikings had an incredible defense and I knew they certainly wouldn’t be a pushover, but I just had this feeling that if we even played 50% better than we did the week prior, didn’t drop the football or let it bounce off us on punts, and the offense gave us something, we could be on our way to the Super Bowl for a rematch with the New England Patriots. However, Vegas had us as underdogs once again, the media said without Wentz we weren’t beating this defense, and most NFL writers had already written their stories of how the Minnesota Vikings were the first team ever to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium.
Once again, watching the game with my son is a moment in time I will never forget. The game did not start well. Minnesota drove down the field with ease and scored a touchdown. I looked at my wife. She knew. I didn’t have to speak. “Uh-oh” was written all over my face. Then it got worse. Three-and-out to start the game for us and every single Eagles fan had the exact same pit in their stomach at the exact same moment. But then, as if the great Bradley Cooper or Rocky Balboa was looking down on us saying just believe, we caught lightning in a bottle. When Patrick Robinson intercepted Case Keenum my first thought was get down, followed by just don’t fumble the ball back to them, followed by a pretty please don’t you dare block in the back, and finished with an are you freaking kidding me!!!!! Three-and-out Vikings. Then a LeGarrette Blount touchdown. Another three-and-out Vikings followed by a fumble shortly thereafter. Then a bomb from Nick Foles to Alshon Jeffery for another touchdown. And then Jake Elliott tacked a field goal on to put us up 24–7 at halftime.
Timing couldn’t have been better as my son’s bedtime lined up perfectly with halftime (although I wish his little body could have lasted the whole game with his Papa), and then I emerged from his bedroom to see the scoreboard display 31–7 as Nicky Six (some of my friends call him this) dropped a ball oh so perfectly into the hands of Torrey Smith. As stated previously, I was confident coming into this game but didn’t expect to have a smile painted on my face since that’s not typical for us. And then, as if only to say do you see me now, Nicky Six connected with Alshon Jeffery to put the finishing touches on quite arguably the greatest game of his professional football career. My son and I were about to witness our very first Eagles Super Bowl together and telling him that news the next morning in his bed was an all-time Papa-moment for me.
Super Bowl 52 is hours away. For the city of Philadelphia, its team, and its fans, the long desired, highly coveted Lombardi Trophy is within our reach once again. For me, reaching this pinnacle for the second time has felt like an eternity, but for folks like my 85-year-old grandfather who have now reached this pinnacle for the third time in their lives and have never tasted victory, it really has been an eternity. And yes, we know who and what we’re up against. No one needs to remind us even though you’ve now been telling us for two weeks.
You tell us we’re facing the combination of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady who beat us last time. We know. You tell us this is once again their third Super Bowl in four years. We know. You tell us we’re going to battle without our MVP-quarterback against the G.O.A.T. in Belichick and Brady. We know. You tell us they’re so clutch that being down 28–3 in the 3rd Quarter of last year’s Super Bowl didn’t even phase them. We know. You tell us Brady finds a way to win no matter what with any guys in any situation. We know. You tell us how most NFL writers are already licking their chops at the thought of telling Brady’s story as the oldest quarterback to ever win the Super Bowl, and thus, another record of Peyton Manning’s he will have broken. We know. You tell us how the media has already lined up directors for all the documentaries to be made covering how Brady now has the most Super Bowl wins in NFL history. We know.
But here’s what else we know: Philadelphia is ready. Yes, Jeffrey Lurie is a billionaire and kind of looks like Lorne Michaels, but he’s our Lorne Michaels-resembling billionaire who wants to deliver this city their first football championship. He’s wanted that since day one and has done everything he can to fulfill that promise. Yes, Howie Roseman has taken a lot of crap and jabs over the years from the media, fans, and most recently Chip Kelly, but this man is an incredible evaluator of football talent and has assembled possibly the most complete Philadelphia Eagles roster in franchise history. He’s done just about everything he can to give us fans the team we need to win our first Super Bowl. Yes, Doug Pederson is from the Andy Reid-tree and when he was first hired most people thought we were getting Reid 2.0, but this coach is the one we need to take us to the promised land. He’s been the right man for the job, he’s gotten all of the players to buy-in, and he has worked his magic to keep this team from striking out despite curveball after curveball thrown our way.
From top to bottom, this Eagles squad is filled with assets. We are led by one of the greatest quarterbacks in the league (in my opinion) in Carson Wentz, but when he went down, do you know who stepped up — perhaps the greatest backup quarterback we could have asked for in Nick Foles, who has proven he has the tools necessary to finish the job. We have absolute studs catching balls for us in Alshon Jeffery, Nelson Agholor, Zach Ertz, Torrey Smith, Torrey Smith, Brent Celek, and Trey Burton. We have a three-headed monster in our backfield when you see the likes of Jay Ajayi, LeGarrette Blount, and Corey Clement coming towards you. Lane Johnson, Brandon Brooks, Jason Kelce, and the crew not only do their job incredibly well but they make it look pretty. On the defensive side of the ball, can there be a worse nightmare than having to stare into the faces of Fletcher Cox, Vinny Curry, Brandon Graham, Timmy Jernigan, Chris Long, and the rest of the constantly varied rotation as you try to prevent them from obliterating your offense. Our linebackers and defensive backs are led by Malcolm Jenkins, arguably the best at what he does in the entire league, and his leadership is paramount in helping guide and shape what has become one of the fiercest defenses in all of football. As Eagles fans, we could go on and on and on about how every player on the team from offense to defense to special teams has given us a season to remember, and after Sunday, hopefully a season we will remember for the rest of our lives.
Brett Favre was given the keys to addressing our team before our revenge match with Brady and Belichick. I have no idea what he said, may say, or will continue to say until the moment that football is in the air, but if given the opportunity to address our 2017 Philadelphia Eagles, I know exactly what I would say. I’d have to decide if I wanted to take the position of Rudy on the stool or channel my inner-Denzel and become a Man of the Woods in really, really cold Minnesota to drive my point home. I would do my best to be animated, to look every single player in the eye, to speak a message that would resound deep within their core, and to deliver the words generations of Eagles fans from all around the world would want this team to hear.
Dear Players and Coaches:
The Super Bowl is finally here. The moment you’ve dreamt of since the time you were little boys is upon us. It didn’t come easy. For some of you, this is years in the making; for others, this is your first season on the team. But no matter how long you’ve bled green, each and every one of you is a part of THIS TEAM. And this team’s road has been a difficult journey. Doubters, injuries, more injuries, criticism, even more injuries, and doubters doubling down have continually tried to derail this team. Maybe it’s because they don’t believe you’re good enough or the talent isn’t strong enough. Maybe it’s because they think you’re the David to New England’s Goliath and aren’t giving us a chance. Maybe it’s because they hate us: we the fans of Philadelphia. They say we’re terrible fans, but you know the truth about us just like we the fans know the truth about you. We’re the best fans in all the world and you’re the team we love. Every baby, boy, girl, husband, wife, mom, dad, grandparent, and great grandparent that bleeds green believes you are the TEAM. They doubted us against Atlanta but we’re the ones who came back the following week. They doubted us against Minnesota but we’re the ones standing in Minnesota’s home. And they’re doubting us against New England but we’re the ones who will shock the world.
As fans, some of us may never see another Super Bowl again. As players and coaches, some of you may never have this opportunity again. None of us know what tomorrow holds. This may be our once-in-a-lifetime chance. So make the most of this. Prepare your minds, your hearts, and your emotions accordingly, and be prepared to leave everything you have on the field. Soak up all of this; as much as you possibly can. Have fun. Smile. Realize you’re a very small percentage of people not only doing what they love, but getting the chance to play on the grandest stage of them all. Realize so many of us live vicariously through you and we want this just as badly as you. Some of us are old and have seen many things in this life, but one thing we still need to see are the Philadelphia Eagles being crowned Super Bowl champions. Some of us look forward to your games because it’s what gets us from one week to the next and our lives need what you provide each and every Sunday. Some of us have hoped, prayed, believed, wished, and waited for years to see our Eagles shed the title of best team to never win a Super Bowl; and once again, we will watch, cheer, scream, yell, and hold our breaths after having put all of our eggs in the basket of this being the time we finally shine victorious for all of the world to see. Do this for yourselves. Do this for your family and friends. Do this for each other. And do this for every single fan who just can’t keep their eyes off of you.
When you take the field and that anthem is played and you look up at the lights and it hits you how real this moment is, please remember who you are and what got you here. Focus on the things you can control, don’t get caught up in the moment, and do your job. If the Philadelphia Eagles team we the fans have watched play all season long shows up and performs as we know you’re capable of, you’re the best team in all of football. Avoid costly mistakes, don’t turn the ball over, and please refrain from getting involved in anything stupid and meaningless. We need all of you. We cannot afford dumb penalties or one of you getting tossed from the game. Keep your cool at all times. If someone’s going to make a game-changing grave error, let it be them. Be smart, take chances you believe in your heart is worth the risk, and make this game the greatest game each and every single one of you has ever played.
No cheap shots, don’t play dirty, but make sure the Patriots realize you’re here to win. We’re not handing them this trophy. Make solid tackles, give them clean hits, and be sure to get to Tom Brady. It should be your mission to ensure his night is miserable. Put hands on him any chance you get, complete the sack each and every time the opportunity presents itself, and make sure he’s scared of the front four breathing down his neck and the back seven watching his every move. Establish the running game early, make sharp passes, catch the ball whenever possible, and when New England gives us opportunities to score, we better take advantage. If we don’t go to overtime, the game is sixty minutes. Don’t forget that. No matter what the score is, they’re never out of it. There’s a reason Belichick and Brady are considered the very best at what they do, but let’s be the team to put another black mark on their resume. If you thought the NFC Championship Game was fun, then imagine how much sweeter throttling the Patriots will be in the game that matters most.
I’m just one Eagles fan out of hundreds of thousands (quite possibly millions) strewn all over the globe, but we all share similarities when tuning in for Super Bowl LII infused with our very own unique story. I’m from Pennsylvania — born and raised — with the vast majority of my family and friends there. I now live just outside Des Moines, Iowa, with my beautiful wife and our two wonderful boys. My nearly-3-year-old son will be sitting either on my lap or right beside me cheering on our Eagles wearing the brand-new Eagles shirt his Grandpop (my father) got him for the big game. My 85-year-old grandfather will be watching the entire game with his hearing aids either turned up or turned down dependent upon how crazy loud it is, and you better believe I’ll be texting my grandmother for updates because from a thousand miles away, I need to know how bright his smile is. There will be parties galore back home in Pennsylvania with friends of mine where I will miss the in person cheers, yells, and fist bumps for sure, but my phone will constantly be blowing up throughout the game with text messages, Bitmojis, and GIFs to guarantee we stay connected. Excited doesn’t even begin to describe just how pumped we are for this game, and I know the same can be said for every single fan who cheers on our Birds!
You’re a team, our team. You’re a collection of men who love another, have each other’s back, and need every single member to fulfill their role in order to finally make this dream a reality. We’re underdogs so they say, so let’s show them what underdogs do. I love you! We love you!! The city of Philadelphia loves you!!! Now let’s go bring the Lombardi Trophy finally back to where it belongs!!!!!
#FlyEaglesFly
