Growing up watching the passion my Dad had towards the Eagles and football in general. I love the sport and this team for life.

For me being a Philadelphia sports fan means never giving up. I believe that sports parallel life. It’s about fighting through adversity, getting knocked down and then getting back up, again and again. It’s about celebrating the triumphs and living through the heartbreaks, all the while staying loyal to your home, your family, your team and yourself.

Wilbert Montgomery, Mike Schmidt and Julius Irving: They all combined class and greatness. Watching them amazed me and helped to formed the fan I am today.

I do not have a ritual but there is an energy that runs through me on Eagles game day that continues to build right up to kick off. I am both anxious and excited as I strap myself in for the big game and the rest of the world goes black. I got goose-bumps just thinking about it.

There have been many great experiences for me as a Philadelphia sports fan. Moments like going to an Eagles game at the vet with my Dad (a season ticket holder since the Franklin Field days) watching the Flyers win back-to-back Stanley Cups, the Phillies win the World Series twice, the Sixers win it all in ’83 and my friends taking me to an Eagles Dallas game for my bachelor party. That game Buddy ran the score up on Landry by calling a fake kneel down bomb from Randall that ultimately resulted in a one-yard touchdown run from Keith Byars. But my most memorable experience came when I won two tickets to Super Bowl XXXIX.

The odds were so astronomically against winning these tickets, but miraculously, I did.

A radio station out of Trenton was giving away tickets to the big game. This was a station that I never listened to. A friend of mine at work told me of the promotion and urged me to listen. I scoffed at that, saying that I never win phone-in competitions, not that I tried very often. So anyway, I plugged a radio in and started listening. The deal was that you had to be the 20th caller when they played an Eagles (the band not the team) song. The station added 20 lucky callers to the pot and then would pick one of those callers to go to the SuperBowl to watch the Eagles and Patriots. I had a 5% chance at that point. I was stunned when I got the call. So much so, that the radio station didn’t think I showed enough excitement. But I won, and I was going to the Super Bowl!

The following days put me on a wild roller coaster ride of emotion. I was to go to Trenton to pick up the tickets and vouchers for the trip. So I went to the station and received my vouchers for the flight and the hotel but no game tickets. I was told that I would receive them on the plane. Nope. Then I was told I would receive them on the bus that takes us to the hotel. Nope. Then I was told that the tickets would be provided at a conference room at a hotel in downtown Jacksonville. My wife and I were staying about 10 miles south of the city. So, Friday morning we got the shuttle to the hotel in town and found the conference room to get the tickets. A woman escorted us to a table to get the tickets. The organization who sold the package to the radio station told us that they did not have our tickets. They were trying to find them. Okay, they gave us some NFL Experience tickets for our trouble and told us to come back later. This went on for two days. We would return to the room to pick up the tickets that weren’t there. Each time we returned, the scene was more intense. Intense to the point that a state trooper had to man the door to keep the peace. There were fans who paid thousands of dollars for there tickets and were told that the tickets weren’t there. It was not a good scene. I felt really bad for those people.

We continued to do things throughout that weekend to enjoy the experience. There were pep rallies led by Bill Bergy, fans singing “Fly, Eagles, Fly” from rooftops, fireworks over the city at night that we watch sitting in the grass at a park across the river. The experience was electric and life-changing. Eagles fans painted the city green and I was proud and honored to be a part of it. But in the back of my mind was that anxious feeling that I would not be getting into the game.

Then finally, four hours before kick off, one of the companies assistants came to me with two tickets. My wife and I quickly boarded the bus to the stadium. I took a huge sigh of relief and gradually felt the frustration and anger turn to game time excitement.

Inside the stadium the atmosphere was electric. I could not believe I was there. Even my wife, who was not a football fan, was wrapped up in the pure energy that ran through that structure. The National Anthem performed by the US Military Academy Choirs ending with the flyover filled my heart with pride for our country and set the stage for the gridiron battle between our beloved Eagles and the Patriots on their way to their third Super Bowl win in 4 years. As a bonus, I got to see one of my all-time favorite performing artists, Paul McCartney, put on a fantastic half-time show. It was a tough game and I never gave up hope. When Greg Lewis caught McNabb’s pass to pull within 3 of the Patriots, the place went crazy. But it was not to be. The Harris interception put to rest our last-ditch effort to tie the game.

We left the game saddened by the loss but on the trip home, reflecting on the wild emotional ride of that weekend, I realized how lucky I was to experience such an amazing event. My father passed away in 1985, just 4 years after he went to New Orleans to see the Eagles lose to the Raiders in Super Bowl XV. I know in my heart that it was him who made it possible for me to win that trip and get to see the Eagles in their second trip ever to the Super Bowl.