Embracing the Underdog: The Philadelphia Eagles are (finally) Super Bowl Champions
About 15 years ago on a Sunday morning in the dead of winter, I fulfilled my weekly duties as a young Roman Catholic boy and went to church with my family. At church, it’s common for parishioners to submit written prayer intentions before and after mass. I was given that opportunity on this certain Sunday morning, and my prayer request was simple: for the Philadelphia Eagles to win their first Super Bowl title. Unbeknownst to me, I was just one of millions of Eagles fans leaving their Super Bowl hopes and dreams for this franchise in the hands of God. Needless to say, that prayer did not come to fruition.
That was until this past Sunday when the Eagles, a team built upon its commitment to and faith in God, captured their first Super Bowl title in franchise history by defeating the New England Patriots 41–33 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After decades of losing seasons and playoff agony, the unanswered prayers from Birds fans were finally realized in Super Bowl LII.
Before the Super Bowl era was ushered in when the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs squared off in 1967, the Eagles last captured an NFL Championship in 1960 over Hall of Fame head coach Vince Lombardi’s Packers. Now, 58 years later, the Eagles have brought home to the City of Brotherly Love the very trophy that bears the name of the head coach who they defeated in their last championship game victory.
After losing Super Bowl XV to the Oakland Raiders in 1980 and Super Bowl XXXIX to the Patriots in 2004, it was third times the charm for the Eagles and sweet revenge over a franchise that has captured five Super Bowl titles since 2001. After losing to Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in Jacksonville 13 years ago, the Birds finally took down the greatest quarterback and head coach in NFL history.
But this win wasn’t about an upset over the Patriots. In fact, it was about more than just winning a Super Bowl title. The Eagles’ victory was the culmination of a never-ending suffering, pain, disappointment, and frustration of one of the most passionate fanbases in all of sports.
Being an Eagles fan has never been easy. If you still don’t understand how important this team is to Philadelphia, go watch Silver Linings Playbook. After winning the NFL Championship in 1960, the Eagles did not make it to the playoffs in the Super Bowl era until 1978. The Birds did not win a playoff game until the following season. After finally appearing in a Super Bowl and losing to Oakland in 1980, the Eagles made five playoff appearances and failed to win a football game in January until 1992. The Eagles made two more playoff appearances in the 1990's, but were never a serious threat to capture the Lombardi Trophy.
In the meantime, the Eagles’ biggest rivals in the NFC East have captured multiple Super Bowl titles. The Dallas Cowboys have won five Super Bowls, the New York Giants have claimed four Super Bowls, and the Washington Redskins have captured three Super Bowls. These franchises had something that Philadelphia did not: a championship ring. And it became a running joke that saw the Eagles as the butt of it.
But arguably the Eagles most successful, yet painful, era of football would come to be when fans like myself began watching the team. From 2000–2004, the Eagles made five straight playoff appearances and became a perennial title contender. While it featured some of the franchise’s highest highs, some of the lowest lows were reached too. From 2001–2003, the Eagles hosted three straight NFC Championship games and lost all three. Finally, in 2004, the Birds broke through for their second appearance on the biggest stage in the NFL. Yet, they fell short against the aforementioned Patriots as New England went on to win its third Super Bowl in four years.
From 2006–2013, the Eagles made five more playoff appearances but only made it to one NFC Championship game in 2008. After 2008, the Eagles were eliminated in their next three playoff appearances in the Wild Card round. The Eagles last playoff win would come in 2008, the same year in which the Philadelphia Phillies would capture their second World Series title and first since 1980. The Eagles’ next playoff appearance and playoff win would not come until 2017.
Simply put, it’s never been a sweet life being an Eagles fan.
There’s a reason that the Rocky movie series has become so emblematic of the city of Philadelphia, other than the fact that Rocky Balboa himself hails from the City of Brotherly Love and his statue stands tall at the steps of the Art Museum. Like the Italian Stallion himself, the city of Philadelphia has always been considered a blue-collared underdog that is constantly counted out and looked down upon when compared to the more glamorous and powerful cities like New York and Washington, D.C. Philadelphia and Rocky Balboa have always embodied hard work and grit.
This is why the 2017 Eagles team resonated so much and so well with the city. At the start of the season, few fans (myself included) and media members expected this team to do more than go .500 and maybe sneak into the playoffs after going 7–9 in 2016. Most “experts” believed that the Cowboys and Giants, not the Eagles, would be fighting for supremacy again in the NFC East. To think that this team could contend for a Super Bowl title this season was not up for discussion.
But from the start, in the second season of the Carson Wentz-Doug Pederson era in Philadelphia, the Eagles took flight (pun intended). Having established himself as the franchise quarterback, Wentz was playing like an MVP and served as the catalyst to an explosive, high-scoring offense that saw its revamped receiving corps blossom. Unlike previous Eagles teams, this version of the Birds had one of the best and deepest running games in the league. And, under the direction of defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, the Eagles had become one of the best run defenses in the NFL behind its deep, talented front seven.
On December 10th, the Eagles stood at 10–2 with the best record in football and were set to face the Los Angeles Rams. It was also the day that the Eagles world stop turning. Or at least we all thought.
When Wentz went down with a torn ACL at the LA Coliseum, the Eagles’ Super Bowl hopes were dashed away as quickly as they had emerged during the season. Almost all the excitement and life in this team and fanbase was sucked right out when it was announced that Wentz would miss the remainder of the season. It was perceived as a fatal blow to a team competing in a loaded NFC. The Birds’ season would come down to a familiar face: Nick Foles.
Eagles fans knew Foles all too well. In 2013, Foles led the Eagles to the playoffs as the presumed franchise quarterback. But after struggling in 2014 and failing to get Philly back to the playoffs, Foles was sent packing by former head coach Chip Kelly to the St. Louis Rams. After things didn’t work out in St. Louis, Foles landed in Kansas City as a backup QB. It seemed as if Foles’ once-promising football career had hit a snag. In fact, Foles even considered retiring from football.
But this past offseason, Pederson and general manager Howie Roseman came calling. They needed a backup quarterback, and Foles agreed to return to where his NFL career started. Who knew they would need him in order to win the franchise’s first Super Bowl title.
Foles would start and play in the Eagles final three games before the playoffs. While the Birds were able to finish the season 2–1, Foles played poorly. The offense was uninspiring, and any confidence in this team being able to make some noise in the playoffs was all but gone. It appeared as if another playoff heartbreak was in the making after a great regular season. An all too familiar ending for Eagles fans.
Morale was at an all-time low, and fans expected the city’s championship drought to continue. The Flyers have not won a Stanley Cup since 1975, and the 76ers have not won an NBA championship since 1983. Other than the Phillies’ World Series title in 2008, losing was synonymous with Philadelphia.
But when others stopped believing in the Eagles, this team did not. They never quit and never gave up. They had complete confidence and faith in their backup quarterback leading the Birds to the top of the mountain. The doubt and disbelief in this team’s ability to win without a solid QB that existed throughout the NFL only fueled this team more to come out and prove everyone wrong. The Eagles, like the city of Philadelphia, embraced being the ultimate underdog and were ready to shock the world.
Just like Rocky, the Eagles were constantly being knocked down. Whether it was by Apollo Creed (Falcons), Clubber Lang (Vikings), or Ivan Drago (Patriots), the Eagles kept getting up from the canvas, fought back, and went the distance. As Balboa once famously said, “I didn’t hear no bell.”
And so it happened. In all three of their playoff games, the Eagles were underdogs. No one gave them a chance to win. And in all three games, the Eagles came out victorious. As each game went by, the Eagles’ offense became more comfortable with Foles at the controls. The passing and rushing attacks got stronger, and by the time that the dust had settled, Nick Foles was a Super Bowl MVP and championship quarterback.
First, it was the low-scoring nail-biter over the defending NFC champion Atlanta Falcons 15–10. Then, it was the thrashing of the Minnesota Vikings and their vaunted defense in the NFC Championship 38–7. And to top it all off, an incredible victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots. The Eagles earned their Super Bowl title by beating the absolute best.
When Wentz went down with the season-ending injury, it was reasonable to believe that this team could not recover. He was arguably the best quarterback in the NFL through the first three months of the season. Or, as Beyonce once famously said, irreplaceable. But the Eagles showed that this team was about more than just their franchise quarterback from North Dakota. This was the best and most complete football team in the NFL.
The credit for that goes to the coaching staff and the front office.
When the Eagles let go of Kelly after the 2015 season, team owner Jeffrey Lurie wanted to completely clean house. And for good reason given how Kelly left the team upon his departure. Lurie decided to bring in someone who had both played and coached in Philadelphia. Someone who knew what it meant to be an Eagle, and how important this team was to the city. That man was Dougie Fresh.
After finishing under .500 in his first season at the helm, there were many questioning whether Pederson was the right man for the job and if he was actually a good football coach. Pederson silenced the haters this season, saving his best for last by calling one of the ballsiest games in Super Bowl history. Pederson and his coaching staff’s ability to adjust the offense to Foles’ strengths and implement more run-pass options (RPOs) showed just how great of a coach he was, despite receiving only one Coach of the Year vote. However, after two seasons on the job, Pederson has already accomplished more than any other head coach in Eagles’ history.
But the man who signed, acquired, and drafted the players that Pederson eventually developed and coached was Roseman, who was at one point demoted after losing a power struggle to Kelly. But instead of pouting and leaving the organization, Roseman stayed and continued to work hard. And after Kelly was relieved of his coaching and front office duties, Roseman earned Lurie’s trust back that he was the right guy to run the organization.
Needless to say, Roseman has proven that ever since he got his job back in 2016. Roseman’s ability to rebuild and retool the roster’s foundation and core through free agency and the draft has been remarkable. Now, the Eagles have a championship team built to contend for more titles in the future.
Like the team, the city of Philadelphia, and Foles, Pederson and Roseman embraced being underdogs in their own right.
When the clock went 0:00 and the green and white confetti began to fall, I first thought about all of my family and friends who also bleed green like myself. But then I thought about all the Eagles fans who waited so long and patiently for a Super Bowl title, but who never got to see one. It helped me remember to not take this unbelievable moment for granted. As bright as the future might be for this franchise, you never know for sure whether or not they will win again soon.
Lastly, my postgame thoughts returned to the great Eagles teams that I grew up watching and cheering for when I was a kid. It made me nostalgic thinking about just how close those iconic teams came to winning a Super Bowl, but never did. I was reminded of just how much I missed watching those teams and how much I wished for one of those teams to have won a championship. This title on Sunday night was for them, and for all the great Eagles teams and players who came before them.
There will be a time and place to talk about the 2018 season, the upcoming offseason, and what lies ahead for this Eagles team and franchise. But now is not the time. Now is a time to celebrate the first Super Bowl title in franchise history. Now is the time to appreciate the joy of winning. As Philadelphia sports fans know best, winning is something that doesn’t come around these parts often.
This entire season, most notably Sunday night, will be something you always remember for the rest of your life. Thursday’s parade will be an incredibly special day too in the history of this great American city. (And, of course, Opening Night next year when the Eagles unveil their championship banner and get their rings at the Linc.)
There are so many other outstanding players who I didn’t get to mention in this piece, but this column has to end at some point or readers will begin falling asleep.
No longer can the Eagles be laughed at for not having any rings. The Philadelphia Eagles are Super Bowl champions. Your move next, Sixers and Flyers.
And if you’ve been to the Linc, you know these next two songs very well:
Fly, Eagles, Fly!!!
