Philadelphia Eagles Fandom

 E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES

   

    Football has always been one of the most fan heavy sports and has always been well known for its rowdiness and excitement. Although every team has their own die-hard fan base, there's no team with more passionate fans than Philadelphia. Residing in the city of brotherly love, residents of Philadelphia love their sports more than any other. One passionate Eagles fan in particular, Timothy Rapp, says "I've been to a lot of cities in my time, but nothing has ever felt like home the way Philadelphia does. And if you're a Philadelphian, you're an Eagles fan."

    While Eagles fans can be viewed as the most passionate in the NFL, they are also one of the most hated. This could stem from a plethora of reasons. Maybe because of the fact that they threw snowballs at a man dressed as Santa, or because they booed franchise QB Donovan McNabb when he was first drafted to the team, or maybe because they cheered during Dallas Cowboy's WR Michael Irvin's career ending injury. While all of these may be contributions, the main reason ultimately stems from the city's immense drive to be great, and when they are great, the way they make sure every other team knows it! This fanbase knows how to represent their team, and they do it well. These fans don't care about the opinions of others and won't take any hate to heart. In 2018, fans created a song they called "No One Likes Us" where they passionately sang about how nobody likes them and they don't care, representing the true spirit of who Philly fans really are. During the Super Bowl LII parade, Eagles center Jason Kelce chanted the song as fans gathered around cheering and singing along.

    

    2018 was a special year for the City of Philadelphia and its fans. Prior to 2018, the Philadelphia Eagles had never come away with a Super Bowl win, nor received a Lombardi Trophy. In 2017, QB Carson Wentz was leading the Eagles 10-2, giving fans optimism of making it to another Super Bowl. Everything was working in their favor until week 11 when Wentz faced a devastating season ending injury - tearing his ACL. The team was forced to start backup QB Nick Foles for the remainder of the season. From that point the Eagles took the name, "The Philadelphia Underdogs", as every other team in the NFL doubted the team and its capabilities. Eagles fans however took the name "underdog" to a new level, dressing up in dog masks and barking during games. Eagles OT, Lane Johnson, even wore his own dog mask during the remainder of the games to represent the team. Nick Foles ended up leading the team to 13-3, winning every game he started in and leading the Eagles to a 41-33 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.

    The team's first ever Super Bowl win gave fans the opportunity to go all out in celebration, maybe a little too much. After the win, Fans rushed down to center city, where they had a lot to drink, climbed poles and awnings, broke glass, and even started a fire. One man in particular got down on his hands and knees and ate horse poop off the street. Fans then had the opportunity to attend the Super Bowl parade where they also showed their true colors.

    On the typical Sunday between September and February, Eagles fans love to get rowdy and support their team. This includes dressing up in Eagles gear, attending tailgates right outside of the stadium, going to bars to watch the games, or just getting together with family and eating lots of food. No matter what, you can find Eagles fans all over the country finding their own way to celebrate. One die hard fan in particular, Larry Glowacki, has decorated the entire front of his house with eagles decor every single year for the past 18 years. This year he went all out during the 2023 playoff run, decorating his house in lights, banners, and even miniature goalposts. His Eagles house made it to a news interview where he talks about what it takes to put everything together. Click the link below to watch the interview.

Man decks out his house for Eagles playoff run

    Lots of Eagles fan accounts can be found on every social media platform. One of the most popular accounts by the name "phillyeaglesnews" can be found on Instagram with over 100k followers. This account posts updates on the team and its players, and gathers opinions from other fans. @EaglesInsider Dave Spadaro also has a very popular fan account on Twitter with over 300k followers. One of the most famous eagles fans, also known as "The Philly Sports Guy" attends almost every Philly sports game. He is well known on Tik Tok for painting his face in each Philly team's colors and cheering loudly at the front of the stadium.

Phillyeaglesnews

EaglesInsider

The Philly Sports Guy

Works Cited

“Banner Free Download Silhouette K Pictures Clipart - Philadelphia Eagles Logo No Background - Free PNG Download - Pngkit.” PngKit.Com, www.pngkit.com/view/u2a9o0y3o0o0a9r5_banner-free-download-silhouette-k-pictures-clipart-philadelphia/. Accessed 8 May 2023. 

Crawley, Geoff. “Why Do People Hate Philadelphia Eagles Fans?” Bleacher Report, 2 Oct. 2017, bleacherreport.com/articles/160670-why-do-people-hate-philadelphia-eagles-fans. 

Candy Woodall. “Eagles Underdog Mask: How to Get One before the Super Bowl.” Pennlive, 22 Jan. 2018, www.pennlive.com/news/2018/01/eagles_underdog_mask_how_to_ge.html. 

“Langhorne, Pa. Man Decks out House for Eagles Playoff Run.” 6abc Philadelphia, 19 Jan. 2023, 6abc.com/langhorne-pa-philadelphia-eagles-fan-decorations-nfl-playoffs/12717456/.