PHILADELPHIA (KYW NEWSRADIO) — Bill McCormick Jr. of Blue Bell has had quite the life when it comes to Philadelphia sports.
Back in the day, McCormick had the joy of playing summer rec ball in Narberth with Philadelphia basketball icon Wilt Chamberlain, who he remembers as a good guy who didn’t forget your name. And, evidently, McCormick also scored on Chamberlain.
“I went between his legs and got a layup,” said McCormick, who stands at about 6 feet, 2 inches.
In addition to his pickup ball with Wilt, McCormick has been a big donor to La Salle University, to the point where his daughter proudly shared that he is recognized in their basketball gym.
And along with all that, he has been an Eagles season ticket holder longer than most – since the 1950s. In fact, you could make the argument that the 87-year-old has been a fan for nearly the entire history of the 91-year-old franchise.
“Sometimes it feels really great and other years it felt very stupid,” McCormick said of his longtime season ticket package. “Like when we only won three games in one year, it was really bad. When we won a lot of games, then it was a good year.”
Truth is, since the mid-50s when McCormick first got his tickets, the Eagles have won three games or less nine times, including in 1968 when they went 2-12 in the final season of very unpopular head coach Joe Kuharich (ever heard of “Joe Must Go?” That became a popular phrase during the Kuharich era).
After starting 0-11, it seemed like the Eagles would be in line to draft running back O.J. Simpson in 1969. But, they won two in a row before losing the last game of the season against the Vikings. That game was Dec. 15, 1968, at Franklin Field – a stadium full of snow because of a previous storm.
At halftime, the Eagles were having a Christmas celebration and needed a fill-in Santa Claus because the person who was supposed to do it didn’t show up. So, a young man named Frank Olivo, who died in 2015, was asked to be old Saint Nick because he came to the game dressed as Santa. In what ended up being the final game of the agonizing Kuharich tenure, Olivo — who embraced his role in this famous story — got pelted with snowballs during the show.
McCormick was proud of what happened that day.
“Philadelphia does things, a lot of times a lot different than the rest of the country, and we don't care what they think,” he said. “We do what we think we should do and that's part of being a Philadelphia fan.”
McCormick says he was one of the people at Franklin Field that day who threw snowballs.
“I remember turning around and looking at the guys behind me. And I said, 'give me a snowball.’”
McCormick and some of his family got a chuckle when KYW asked him if he remembers whether or not he ended up landing a snowball on Santa.
But his love of the Eagles and wanting to see them do well goes beyond that cold December day in 1968.
“He loves Philadelphia football,” his wife Jackie said. “He loves Philadelphia. Basketball, baseball, everything. He's a Philadelphia guy.”
McCormick has had four seats for the duration of his tenure as a season ticket holder. They sat in the 600 Level at Veterans Stadium and in the corner of one of the endzones in the lower level at Lincoln Financial Field. While McCormick has watched the games exclusively on TV since 2014 while his family uses his seats, he has continued to be a passionate fan from home.
“He gets absolutely pissed off and screaming his head off and Jesus Christ they’re no good they’re gonna lose … but he’s you’re typical Philly fan,” said his daughter Michelle Jancuska. “He'll boo ‘em and then he's like, 'Ahh I love Sirianni.' And the next week he hates Sirianni. He's up and down with the team. He's still got that fire in him.”
“I still get upset when they lose,” McCormick said. “And I still try to get involved. But, over the years it's been a great, great, great time.”
And that great time includes Super Bowl LII, which McCormick cherishes.
While McCormick was proud of that cold day in December 1968, it’s clear his family is proud of him for a legacy of great fandom. McCormick and his wife are parents to five, grandparents to 12, and great-grandparents to one, whose father happens to be a Commanders fan.
But don’t worry, McCormick and Jancuska have a goal to make that kid an Eagles fan. It’s in the McCormick genes.