Need motivation for Super Bowl? Remember Eagles championship parade 5 years ago
The Eagles rode in open-top double-decker buses to the art museum that Sylvester Stallone made famous.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- As Philadelphia Eagles fans count down the seconds until kickoff of Super Bowl 57, where they hope their Birds will fly on the road to victory, they can't help to be motivated by what took place five years ago today.
Four days had passed since quarterback Nick Foles, head coach Doug Pederson and the Eagles took down Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, bringing home Philadelphia's first Super Bowl Championship. And it was time to celebrate down Broad Street!
It was Feb. 8, 2018, when fans clad in Eagles green jammed the streets all the way from the stadium to the city's famed "Rocky" steps, lining up 20 deep in spots to catch a glimpse of the champs.
The Eagles rode in open-top double-decker buses to the art museum that Sylvester Stallone made famous for a rally nearly 60 years in the making.
One of, if not the most, memorable and most replayed moments of the celebration saw center Jason Kelce give voice to every frustrated Philly fan with a remarkable, impassioned and profane speech that had him defending the general manager, the coach and a litany of players who supposedly weren't smart enough, big enough or talented enough to win a championship.
"We were a bunch of underdogs," shouted Kelce, channeling Rocky himself. "Bottom line is we wanted it more!"
And so did Birds fans! Desperately.
Until the 41-33 victory at Super Bowl LII over the favored Patriots, the Eagles remained the only team in their division without a title - an ongoing humiliation that gave Philly an inferiority complex and made the Eagles faithful an easy target for fans of other teams, especially the rival Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants.
"This Super Bowl championship is for you," Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie told the vast crowd. "You are the most passionate and deserving sports fans on the planet. We couldn't have done it without you."
Added Super Bowl MVP quarterback Nick Foles: "We finally did it. We're Super Bowl champs!"
The parade began at the Eagles' stadium complex and slowly made its way up Broad Street past the cheering throngs.
Carrying the Lombardi Trophy, Pederson walked part of the route - allowing fans to touch the gleaming hardware - while Lurie held a sign saying "THANK YOU FANS" as he stood next to the team's three quarterbacks: Foles, injured starter Carson Wentz and third-stringer Nate Sudfeld.
Schools, museums, courts, government offices and even the Philadelphia Zoo were shut down so the city could fete an underdog Eagles team that few outside Philadelphia thought had a prayer of beating the mighty Patriots led by superstar quarterback Brady and coach Bill Belichick.
At the rally, Lurie, Pederson and a slew of players all took the microphone and dedicated the victory to the fans.
But it was the crowd-pleasing Kelce who best channeled the gruff but ultimately good-hearted "attytood" for which Philadelphians are famous.
Wearing an outlandishly sequined Mummers getup - a nod to Philadelphia's raucous New Year's Day parade - Kelce declared that "no one wanted us. No analyst liked to see us win the Super Bowl. And nobody likes our fans."
He then led the crowd in a jolly - and filthy - chant set to the tune of "My Darling Clementine": "No one likes us, no one likes us, no one likes us, we don't care!" The big-bearded lineman uttered at least two profanities that made it onto live TV, recalling Chase Utley's similarly profane speech at the Phillies' World Series parade in 2008.
If Kelce wants to deliver another epic speech, he'll have to get by his brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce. (Sorry, Donna.)
If Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni wants to know what it feels like to be in a Philadelphia championship parade, he'll have out-coach former Eagles coach and the man who let him go from KC, Andy Reid.
If Jalen Hurts wants to hoist the Lombardi Trophy over his head as a sea of revelers in 'It's a Philly Thing' shirts cheer him on, he'll have to outperform a former Super Bowl MVP in Patrick Mahomes.
Eagles fans are already thinking about their spots along Broad Street. But it's up to the Birds to take that first step this Sunday so we can have another championship parade to remember.
