Well, I was born in South Philly and moved to South Jersey. I have dealt with Eagle fans forever it seems. Why did I become a Cowboy fan? My uncle played football with Roger Staubach at the Naval Academy. I met Roger and became inspired to become a football player because of him. I grew up to be 6'4", 245 and eventually started at linebacker/DE for three years at Rutgers and made it to the Commanders and Giants camps. I didn't make the cut, but at least I had a fair chance. Here are some insights for the crowd.
The true start of Eagle fan hatred of all things Dallas probably begins with the dirty hit Lee Roy Jordan laid on their pro-bowl running back Timmy Brown near the end of the 1967 season. He threw a forearm/elbow to the face of the Brown, knocking out nine of his teeth (newspaper said four, Brown said it was really nine after the counting was over). Back then it would have been considered a little bit dirty. By today's standards you're suspended for half the season.
The Vet was a toilet bowl with cement painted green for a playing surface. In reality, it was one of the last of the old "cookie-cutter" all-purpose stadiums. I played football, wrestled, and baseball in high school. Every year the surrounding counties in Philly and South Jersey sent all-star teams to play in the Carpenter Cup series, named after one-time Phillies owner Ruly Carpenter. I played in the outfield. How hard was the "field?" I had a fly ball land about 10 feet in front of me and literally bounce 15 feet into the air over my head. That's how hard the playing surface was.
Highlights (lowlights) from the Vet that I have personally seen:
--Fan in 700 level wearing an Aikman jersey had the jersey ripped off his back and jersey set on fire. At least they didn't put the fan on fire.
--Fan in 700 level wearing a Dorsett jersey beaten and kicked down the concrete stairs.
--Fans trying to navigate the tailgate parties while wearing any Cowboy gear spat upon, had stuff thrown at them, cursed at, and one nasty guy ran up to a little boy and tried to pee on him.
--I had to personally intervene when a few drunken fools were harassing a very attractive woman wearing her Aikman jersey. He threw mustard on her jersey. I ran out and grabbed him and told him to lay off. He told me to go F myself. I picked him up and body slammed him on a parked car hood. I was bulked up to about 260 by then and always hitting the gym, benching 400. No one messed with me or the girl after that.
The Wendell Davis story is true; blew out both knees on the same play. There were never enough toilets in the Vet, so people just peed in the sinks. It was so bad for women that it was not unusual to see one just squat and let it fly.
The city today is part hell hole/part wealthy area. Rittenhouse Square has awesome dining and shopping, some of the best outside of New York City, and Center City has plenty of history and culture. Rich $$$$ on the Main Line. South Philly without the Mafia and police keeping the place safe has declined, but the neighborhood residents are fighting back against the "woke" nonsense (the over-the-top part of it) that has infested the city. North Philly, called "The Badlands" by the police, resembles a GTA5 server, while West Philly looks more like a CoD server. Kensington, especially around K&A, is the largest open air heroin market on the east coast. It resembles Zombieland. Philly just broke the 400 murder number. If you want to see what doesn't get reported, just look up Philadelphia on the Citizen App and be amazed.
Very few of the city's sports athletes live in Philly. I will say the Lincoln Financial Field is nothing like the Vet in terms of bad behavior, but I can't think of any place in U.S sports that was.
This is the city of tonight's opponent.
Edit: The real story of Santa and the snowballs is rather funny and not what most people think. Maybe I'll tell it later.
