Fans never gave up hope
By JIM NOLAN
nolanj@phillynews.com
philly.com
( edit--in my memory i myself can't remember an Eagles crowd being so juiced and into it at a seemingly hopeless situation--4th and 26--the team attitude has entered into the fans--Max:)
George Reynolds / Daily News
Fans cheer at end of game yesterday when Eagles beat the Green Bay Packers 20-17
IT WASN'T cheesy.
But we'll take it.
If the 2003 Philadelphia Eagles proved anything yesterday, it's that they're as tough and resilient as the people who root for them.
Neither wind (SW at 13 miles per hour), nor cold (25 degrees, 13 wind chill), nor dark of night (fourth and 26, down by three points with 1:12 to play) could stop the gutsy Eagles from edging the Packers, 20-17, in overtime at the Linc.
"Nobody gave up hope," said Eagles coach Andy Reid, summing up the game, and arguably his team's remarkable season, which continues this Sunday with a third, consecutive NFC championship game.
"There were plenty of chances to tank it and these guys didn't do that."
That includes the more than 67,000 thermal-insulated souls who braved Mother Nature and a bad case of nerves for yesterday's divisional playoff game.
Perhaps none were more devoted than the diehards with the Bird's-eye view near the tippy-top of Sections 206 and 207 - just a punt away from the flight path into Philly International Airport.
They stood throughout most of the fourth quarter and during the entire overtime, oblivious to the elements, like anxious parents waiting for their teen-ager to come home at 2 a.m.
"I didn't expect it to be like this," said Murray Crownover, trying to stay calm as his excited son, Brian, sweated the Bird's predicament: Down three, just over two minutes to play.
One row down, Jim McCusker, 41, of Northeast Philly, made a bold prediction:
"This is the kind of game you're gonna think about 10 years later and say, 'I was there - and we won.' "
Four plays later, McCusker looked like a prophet (in a new Brian Dawkins jersey) when the Birds converted a life-saving fourth-and-26 on a Donovan McNabb pass to Freddie Mitchell. The pass set up a game-tying David Akers field goal, sending the game into overtime.
"We're alive! We're alive!" rejoiced McCusker's friend Matt Bentley. "Are you kidding me?"
There was spontaneous and unabashed man-hugging and man-kissing through multiple layers of wool that might not normally be seen in the office. But in Sec. 206, it was acceptable, almost mandatory.
Then just a few minutes into overtime, Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre threw up a pass that was easily intercepted by Dawkins and returned to Green Bay territory, already in field goal range for an Eagles victory.
Everyone in the section began to jump up and down as the Guns & Roses tune "Welcome to the Jungle" blasted over the sound system. Perhaps the first time in it's history, there was a noticeable tremor on the upper dish of the Linc.
The building actually rocked.
From that point, the fans knew it was inevitable. As the "Rocky" theme played and the wind swayed the day-glo goalposts to and fro, David Akers made good on an earlier miss and kicked the Bird's into the championsip game with a 31-yard-field goal.
For at least 10 minutes after the game ended, fans refused to leave the section.
"I could stay here all night," said Brian Crownover, looking out over the celebration.
"It's going to be a magnificent week in Philly," said a jubilant Andrew Lefever, 29, a cardiac unit technician from Englewood who accompanied his father Gerry to the game.
"It's the Eagles championship to lose."
Of course, that's what they said last year before the Birds lost to the Tampa Bay Bucs.
Since the NFL has been playing Super Bowls, only four teams have ever lost three championship games in a row. Only one team, the 1976 Oakland Raiders, went on to win the Super Bowl the following year.
The fans of Sec. 206 would hear none of it, predicting an easy win this Sunday over the visiting Carolina Panthers.
"I don't know why they're even coming," said Gerry Lefever, who has already booked his trip to Houston for Super Bowl XXXVIII. "They're wasting their time."
In the euphoria, the word "destiny" could be heard bouncing off the rafters, though no one would own up to it.
"It's not destiny," corrected fan Tom Sheridan, of Langhorne. "You've got to work for it."
You know it won't be easy. |
