Philadelphia Eagles salute veterans at home game against New England Patriots

Maggie Kent Image
Sunday, November 17, 2019
Philadelphia Eagles salute veterans at home game against New England Patriots
Philadelphia Eagles salute veterans at home game against New England Patriots. Maggie Kent reports during Action News at 6pm on November 17, 2019.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Even before kickoff, Lincoln Financial Field was already buzzing with excitement.

The Philadelphia Eagles organization, along with Toyota, hosted a "Salute to Service" for our veterans on Sunday.

Vets were welcomed to the Linc for a job fair. The effort: to help our service members overcome challenges when re-entering the workforce.

"One of the challenges is translating their skills and experiences into civilian workforce lingo. One of the ways they are overcoming that is Toyota's work with hiring our heroes in developing their resume engine and career spark," said Ryan Pitts with Toyota.

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Outside in the parking lot, the excitement was building as the Eagles faced off against the Patriots.

"Everybody here hates the Pats and it's gotten to the point that I hate them more than the Cowboys," said Lauren Tsipori of West Philadelphia.

Rob Holliday of Northeast Philadelphia was optimistic heading into the game.

"Their defense is good, but our offense is going to dig out and we're going to come through!"

When asked about injures stacked up against the Eagles, he said, "We've got a lot of new guys back. My boy Jay Ajayi is back, Matthews is back, I think we're ready."

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Others are faltering on their allegiance, like Steve Tobia who bet against the Birds.

"The Pats are going to win but at the same time I want the Eagles to win, is that all right?" he said. "I know the viewers here are going to be angry, but it's okay. Because the Pats will win, but the Eagles are going to be all right. Then we'll beat the Seahawks, and the six game stretch after that is going to be perfect."

No matter the final score, something amazing is bound to happen. During halftime, Toyota is gifting one lucky veteran with a brand new car.