PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — At 6:07 p.m. Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles sent the Delaware Valley into a sea of joy that flooded the city’s streets with celebration — and many fans’ eyes with happy tears, all because the Birds will play for their fifth NFL championship in Super Bowl LVII.
At that moment Sunday night, the Eagles clinched their 31-7 triumph over the physically-outmatched San Francisco 49ers. And at that moment, the city broke out in a quintessentially-Philly celebration.
While off-key singalongs of “Fly Eagles Fly” came from deliriously giddy Eagles players on a stage at Lincoln Financial Field in South Philly, a beloved tradition was renewed a few miles north on Broad Street and all over Philadelphia as thousands of fans happily tied up traffic.
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Climbers scaled greased poles by City Hall, even as they were possibly distracted by flying confetti and the cacophony of the team’s fight song and “E! A! G! L! E! S! Eagles!” from countless thousands of happy partiers.
The poles stood as much of a chance of not being climbed as the 49ers stood of winning Sunday.
“Put more of this into my veins, I can’t get enough of it, it’s amazing. And only in Philly,” said Tish Bonner from Haddonfield. “I’m just so glad to be here in what I call the ‘greased pole district.’”
Northeast Philly saw similar joy, as fans wearing jerseys from Wilbert Montgomery to DeVonta Smith slapped five to mark the Eagles’ fourth Super Bowl appearance.
Hundreds of fans descended upon intersections in Mayfair for the party.
From Levittown to all parts of Philadelphia, fans like the first lady of the United States joined well-inebriated ones and kids flapping eagle-wing costumes as the good times rolled.
A huge police presence was on the countless scenes to protect the streets as thousands of partiers did their thing.
Meanwhile, inside the stadium, Jason Kelce’s daughters snagged midnight green and white confetti off the grass of Lincoln Financial Field after what may have been their daddy’s last home game.
Philadelphia’s party is just the beginning. If the Eagles pull off the same success against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII in two weeks as they did Sunday, expect even more of the kind of celebration that is, well…
…it’s a Philly thing.