An Ode to the 2024 Philadelphia Eagles
How the Super Bowl Champions changed Philadelphia fandom forever
Being a lifelong Eagles fan is hard. At least, it used to be. It’s a masochistic pursuit, like watching Midsommar or adamantly defending Drake. It's a gauntlet of high expectations and repeated disappointment.
Every Philadelphian remembers a moment when the Eagles broke their heart. Those bad plays or missed opportunities that are so ever-present, just the thought makes your chest pound. Each one is a dog whistle for a tortured Eagles fan. We carry the heartbreak like a badge of honor.
The three consecutive NFC Championship Game losses in the early aughts to the Rams, Bucs (thank you for ruining my life Ronde Barber), and Panthers (Jake Delhomme!?). McNabb throwing up in the middle of the huddle in the Super Bowl loss to the Patriots. TO doing situps in his driveway. The Kevin Curtis drop against the Cardinals. The Dream Team. The year I convinced myself Jeff Garcia would get us to the Super Bowl. The Alshon Jeffrey drop. The James Bradberry pass interference call felt like having your heart stepped on.
Philadelphia fandom abides by Murphy’s Law. We dream big but expect the worst, and are validated when the worst happens. We’re a fanbase that’s trauma-bonded. We pass that trauma onto future generations like eye color.
When you ask my Stepdad how he feels about an upcoming game, he usually responds by saying, “I have a bad feeling about this.” My Mom can barely make it through the opening kickoff without claiming that the season is over. Even when we’re favored, we don’t expect to be favorites.
For the past two and a half decades, we’ve been blessed with truly competitive Philadelphia Football. Along the way, we’ve seen an infusion of hope through mythological figures who made promises of the mountaintop. Yet year after year, we would fall short in a truly heartbreaking fashion.
Then came 2017. An aberration of a year that felt like a fever dream. Due to our Murphy’s Law mentality, it almost felt too good to be true. We saw the complete vision of a team that reflected the blue-collar nature of the city that showed up for them week after week. Brandom Graham, Malcolm Jenkins, Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, Carson Wentz, Patrick Robinson, Alshon Jeffrey, NICK FOLES! They overcame, they had fun, and they made an improbable run after losing Wentz in the midst of an MVP campaign and won it all.
2017 is the first time I’ve seen a lot of my friends cry. It felt so absolutely jarring to be at the top of the football world. Almost like it could disappear at any moment. The 2017 Super Bowl win was special, but it felt ephemeral. A gift we were lucky to have rather than the beginning of a new era. That team was incredible; you never forget your first Super Bowl. But they were older and built for that season rather than the long run.
2025 feels different. With the NFL Season kicking off tomorrow, we find ourselves at the end of an offseason in which our beautiful Birds once again carry the title of NFL Champions after dismantling the Kansas City Chiefs by the Bayou. This Super Bowl victory was dominant. It was a statement to not doubt the City of Brotherly Love. It brought with it an air of confidence.
This feels like the beginning of a few special years for the Eagles. They have one of, if not the most talented roster in the league. A team of superstars that plays like a single entity. Superheroes who crafted a culture of selflessness that has torn the fabric of NFL reality. Forget Murphy’s Law. Our outsized expectations finally feel reachable. Winning is a reality and a gahdamn drug.
So, as we bid adieu to the 2024-25 Eagles and welcome a new year of Philadelphia Eagles ball, I want to celebrate the magnitude of that Super Bowl win one more time. Super Bowl LIX can’t make up for years of pain and frustration, nor can it prevent Terrell Owens from doing calisthenics in his driveway, but I don’t think that’s the point.
It’s a new chapter in a long story. A high that would be minimized without the lows. Growth isn’t linear, and for some, it doesn’t come at all. So I’m beyond grateful it came for us. It’s a moment no one can take from this city. I can still taste the champagne on Broad Street. Not to mention the ill-advised shot of Jose Cuervo I took from a stranger.
Here’s to one of the greatest Eagles teams we’ve ever seen. And here’s to a new season of fresh storylines and challenges that will probably force me to throw my remote across the room while I inhale an Angelo’s cheesesteak and talk about the fundamentals of quarterbacking, which I know nothing about. We’re so back baby, and thank god for Eagles football.
