The Eagles have finally done it, bringing the Lombardi Trophy home to Philadelphia for the first time after defeating the Patriots 41-33 on Feb. 4. From West Chester to Philadelphia, and all across the country, Eagles fans are celebrating the underdog win through various means.
After the final score was displayed on millions of TV screens across the country, thousands and thousands of people crowded onto Broad Street. The pictures and videos taken that night show people climbing street poles and crowding on top of hotel awnings until collapse.
While more people celebrated on the streets of Philadelphia, there was still a lot of excitement in West Chester. Gay Street quickly became crowded with students, some of them setting Patriots jerseys on fire. West Chester student Sean Milligan was amidst the mayhem. “It was the best night of my life,” he said. “And the West Chester Police were really chill, hi-fiving us and chanting ‘Go Birds!’ along with us.”
An overdose was reported on Gay Street around 1 a.m., however no other disturbances or incidents were recorded in West Chester. According to the Daily Local News, West Chester Chief of Police Scott Bohn stated that, “It was a large crowd, but they were well-behaved, and it went extremely well.”
In Philadelphia, as of Friday, Feb. 9, eight people had been charged for crimes including vandalizing stores, flipping cars, damaging public property and public intoxication.
Videos show people walking down the streets of Philadelphia carrying entire light poles, street poles and signs over their shoulders and down the streets. Fireworks were being shot off all across the city and random fires were being lit all over. West Chester student Michael Trycieckyj was in Philadelphia experiencing this chaos firsthand. “It was kind of like the whole city was on one big adrenaline rush,” he said. “Even though I’m not a huge sports fan, it was amazing to be a part of this once in a lifetime event.”
One of the trending hashtags on Twitter that Sunday night was #PhillyPoliceScanner, encouraging people to tweet out the weird phrases police were saying as they tried to contain thousands of unruly fans.
On Tuesday, Feb. 6, students of West Chester came together, signing a petition for classes to be canceled for that coming Thursday, the day of Philly’s Parade of Champions. The petition ended up with over 6,600 signatures, however, classes were ultimately not canceled by the university.
Millions of people lined the streets of Philadelphia on Thursday, Feb. 8, as the team paraded down Broad Street, ending the occasion on the famous steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. While classes at WCU weren’t cancelled, many students still found a way to make it into Philly for the historic occasion.
Many Eagles fans on campus and in Philadelphia felt a camaraderie that fueled the celebrations Sunday and Thursday. Eagles defensive end, Chris Long, remarked after the parade via Twitter that he’s “never seen a city so full of love as today. A couple million people outside and all love, no tension. Deserved a championship.”
Ryan Kutzler is a fourth-year student majoring in communication studies with minors in journalism and music. ✉ RK821378@wcupa.edu.