Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Eagles fans show genuine Brotherly Love

By JOHN ROMANO
Published January 30, 2005

PHILADELPHIA - In the name of celebration, there was concern the city might burn. Instead, it seemed to practically glow.

Who knew? Who could have guessed America's most fierce fans would begin the day by weeping as a blind 11-year-old sang the national anthem. Who would have imagined this city of bad attitudes could celebrate joyously, and without incident, into the coldest hours of the night.

Who knew Philadelphia had a heart?

Could have fooled us. After all, this is a city where hooligans keep a tight schedule. A place where sass is part of the required curriculum.

Yet in the aftermath of the NFC Championship Game last week, Philadelphia became a city of screaming cheerleaders. Dancing, singing, hugging. And yes, even fantasizing about what was still to come.

Maybe, in retrospect, all Philadelphia needed was this Eagles team. This Super Bowl season. All it needed was a reason to celebrate.

"There's a lot of hostility in Eagles fans. Eagles fans will tell you exactly how they feel. There's no fluff," said Bill Deery, a Philadelphia-area mortgage broker and creator of the fan Web site nestofdeath.com. "But it's because we've waited so long. We've been so close so many times.

"The passion just keeps building."

Not just building, but fermenting. Festering. No major city has seen so many unfulfilled seasons defining a generation.

The last time the Eagles won an NFL championship was 1960. Their last Super Bowl appearance was '80. And they're not alone in South Philly.

The Phillies have won one World Series in the past 100 years. The Flyers haven't won a Stanley Cup final since the Broad Street Bullies of the mid 70s. The last major Philadelphia championship was the 76ers in 1983.

"This city has endured a lot of heartbreaks," said Eagles linebacker Ike Reese. "They deserve this even more than some of the players."

This is the point where you might get weepy. Where you remember the joy in Boston when the Red Sox finally won a World Series. This is where you might be tempted to draw parallels between long-suffering fans in East Coast cities.

Fuhgeddaboudit.

Red Sox fans were philosophical about their misfortunes. Almost lyrical in their misery. They talked of fate and providence. They talked of relatives long since passed and of generations yet to come.

Red Sox fans were like a study in neurosis.

Eagles fans are probably closer to psychosis.

They are more ferocious than poetic. Losing is not to be analyzed, but despised. Philadelphia can be hell for a visiting player, but it's even worse when the local team disappoints. Eagles defensive end Jevon Kearse delights in telling how pint-sized fans insinuate this had better be the Eagles' year.

Of course, the typical Philadelphia fan will tell you that the city's reputation for shenanigans has been overblown by isolated incidents. But the thing is, those isolated incidents keep a fairly regular schedule.

There was the time fans cheered when Michael Irvin lay motionless on the field with what turned out to be a career-ending injury. There was the makeshift courtroom set up in the bowels of Veterans Stadium to handle the overflow of arrests during games. There are countless stories of visiting fans being harassed, intimidated and urinated upon by Eagles fans.

The motto for eaglesfanclub.com?

Where the fans are tougher than the players.

That general tone was even part of the team's marketing campaign before this season.

"It's the makeup of this city. It's the way we were brought up. Blue-collar, hard-working people," said Shaun Young, an Eagles fan also known as the North Endzone Nightmare for his outfit and antics at games. "You can knock us down and kick us in the mouth, but you better pack a lunch because it's going to be a long day when you cross us.

"Boston fans, it was like they were okay with the losing. Every year was another chapter in their story. Around here, we get p----- at losing."

Gov. Ed Rendell said it's a question of a city's identity.

To the north of Philadelphia is New York, the financial capital of the U.S. To the south is Washington D.C., the political heart of the country.

In Philadelphia, there is no easy premise in which to cling. As a result, many residents pour their hearts into the city's teams.

NFL officials said last week that Philadelphia set league records for merchandise sales in the days immediately after the victory against Atlanta.

At Chickie's & Pete's, a South Philly bar and grill, there were hundreds of people lined up at the door at 10 a.m. Sunday to get the best tables near televisions to watch the NFC championship, which began at 3 p.m.

The following night, the crowd was elbow to elbow simply to observe the taping of an Eagles show on a local cable station.

Middle-aged men, with faces painted green and silver, were standing on tables. Children were pounding rally sticks. Every 90 seconds or so, a Super Bowl chant would start, and then a chorus of Fly Eagles Fly would break out.

"If we'd had winners all of these years, I think it might be a little different," said Dom Valella, an Eagles season-ticket holder for 26 years. "But this is a crazy, fanatic sports town. And it's been instilled in us by our grandfathers and fathers and uncles.

"My son sits in the upper level, but he came downstairs in the final minutes of the game because I wanted him to be with me when the Eagles finally won. He's 28, and my daughter is 25. And really, this is the first time they've seen the Eagles make it to the Super Bowl."

Family time? Children and pep rallies? An Elvis impersonator in a Vegas-style Eagles outfit? Can these really be Philadelphia fans?

Now they are chanting something new. It sounds like they are referring to Patriots glamor-boy quarterback Tom Brady. It sounds like ...

Brady s----!

Ah, good to know some things never change.

[Last modified January 30, 2005, 00:10:19]