Eagles parade live updates: Highlights from player speeches; Birds GM Howie Roseman hit by a beer can; transit packed as crowds leave

On a day set aside to honor the patron saint of love, it would be only too obvious to observe that the city and jubilant sports fans in Philadelphia delivered a four-hour adulatory valentine to the Super Bowl champion Eagles.

But if anything, what transpired Friday from the depths of South Philadelphia to the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art affirmed that even the obvious can be true.

“Love Hurts” signs were ubiquitous at the Super Bowl parade celebration. Saquon Barkley slapped hands with fans reaching over a barrier and celebrated with a 3-year-old. Green-clad fans showed up pushing the sartorial limits, including one in a three-piece, homemade Eagles-themed suit.

Three hours until parade time.

Inside SEPTA’s 19th-floor nerve center, telephones purred. The transit agency’s battlefield commanders arrayed around a conference table conferred and gave orders, voices blending into a conversational hum.

Quiet is good. Remarking on it, though, is tempting fate because it probably won’t stay that way.

While swarms of Eagles fans approach the front doors of 30th Street Station, others opted to avoid the long boarding lines and try their luck with an Uber ride.

“The parade was fine,” Margaret Treston of Media, Pa. said. "The problem is getting home.”

Taking a ride-hailing apps like Uber or Lyft was looking like "the only way back out," paradegoer Drew Rambo said.

Caroline Rickard, 26, was waiting to get inside Garage in South Philly to watch the parade day speeches a few minutes before 3 p.m. The bar was so crowded that she and some friends were waiting outside as cheers could be heard inside.

“It was electric,” she said of watching the parade earlier in the day near Snyder Avenue.

Nearby, customers waited in line to order food from Geno’s Steaks and Pat’s King of Steaks clad in green Eagles apparel. Two merchandise stands had been set up on opposite sides of the sidewalk selling Eagles t-shirts and sweatshirts.

At PATCO, the line to enter the station at Ninth and Locust stretched down the block at 4 p.m.

But it moved rapidly, as the transit agency limited service to eastbound, express trains only.

Cavnel Frazier and Naim Lewison were returning to Camden, still reveling in the day as they waited happily in line.

Eagles fans are being bombarded with victory swag — including limited edition Barbie dolls.

To commemorate the teams' Super Bowl win, Mattel has announced a made-to-order collection of Eagles memorabilia.

It's the second year of Mattel's Super Bowl winner line. Items available for purchase include two Barbie dolls dressed as fans, a set of Little People action figures modeled to look like Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, Lane Johnson, and Darius Slay Jr., and an Eagles edition of the card game, UNO.

“BG” chants erupted between the players as Brandon Graham walked up to the podium to deliver his speech. Before the players arrived to the Art Museum, the two-time Super Bowl champion teased a speech during the bus ride up — and of course he delivered.

“I can’t be up here without the greatness of others,” Graham said. “This team, this organization, I’ve been so thankful to play — and grow up — pretty much here half my life.”

The 15-season veteran first arrived in Philadelphia when he was drafted in 2010. Since then, he’s won two Super Bowls and become a fan-favorite among Eagles fans.

Two women were shot in their legs near the Eagles parade Friday afternoon, according to police. Both were in stable condition.

Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore said the women were shot by a man in an Eagles jersey after an argument, likely near the Park Towne Place apartments and 23rd Street.

When a 27-year-old woman and her boyfriend tried to cut through the porta-potty line, Vanore said, someone in the crowd punched the boyfriend, and a melee ensued. Someone in the crowd then fired shots, he said, striking the woman in her calf, and hitting a 20-year-old bystander in the thigh.

Landon Dickerson coming in was one of the favorites for best speech, and he absolutely delivered.

“When I got drafted here, everybody said it was impossible to play in Philly,” Dickerson said. “I found out all y’all want is for us to give everything we can for this city, and y’all give it right back. I can’t tell you how much we appreciate you guys every [expletive] game, every Sunday, Monday, Thursday. It doesn’t matter. I don’t think I’ve played a [expletive] away game my entire career.”

The millions assembled along Broad Street to congratulate the Birds at the parade were exemplative of the fan support the Eagles have seen for decades.

As Saquon Barkley gave his speech on Friday, he was accompanied by a man on crutches.

That man was Ryan Quigley, a survivor of the New Orleans terror attack, who lost his best friend, Tiger Bech, that night.

Quigley has gotten to know the Eagles over the last few weeks. He was at the Super Bowl, and attended a few games as a guest of the team before that.

Two-time Super Bowl champion and Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson owes some of the most important lessons he’s learned over the past 12 years with the Birds to the coaches and the players he’s been surrounded by.

“It was Jeff Stoutland that taught me ‘no man is an island,’ you must draw your strength from others,” Johnson said. “It was Jason Kelce that taught me nothing in the world can take the place of persistence and to always press on. Coach Sirianni taught me about dog mentality. Nick Foles taught me how to speak soft and to carry a big stick. That was actually Teddy Roosevelt, but I thought it was pretty fitting.”

“And Jalen Hurts taught me how to have a purpose before someone had an opinion,” Johnson said, reciting one of the quarterback’s iconic quotes.

The speeches were still going on as hundreds of fans walked away from the Art Museum, with some saying they were heading toward food trucks, bars, their couches at home, or even back to work.

The wind blew cold, and many had been out in the elements for hours already.

The evacuating crowds still screamed at the sound of Saquon Barkley’s name and sang “We Are The Champions” with the players as they made their way up the Parkway toward Center City.

Jalen Hurts said when he got drafted to the Eagles he wouldn’t visit the Rocky Steps until he won the Super Bowl.

“Now we here,” Hurts said.

As chants of MVP erupted throughout the crowd, Hurts’ victory speech was mostly directed at thanking those around him — from his offense, to the defense (which “wins games,” according to Hurts), to kicker Jake Elliott, to the coaches and all of the organization’s leaders.

Gov. Josh Shapiro and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker delivered rousing speeches to the crowd of jubilant fans at the Philadelphia Museum of Art as the Super Bowl team looked on from the Rocky steps.

Shapiro, who attended the Super Bowl in-person at the Superdome in New Orleans, declared the Birds are “now America’s team”

“You hear that Dallas?” Shapiro, a Montgomery County native, said, taunting the Eagles’ rivals.

Nick Sirianni, Saquon Barkley, and the Eagles invented a new phrase in 2024, which propelled them to success.

“You can’t be great without the greatness of others,” Sirianni said countless times, but also made the centerpiece of his speech at the Eagles’ Super Bowl parade.

No one contributed more to bringing in those others than general manager Howie Roseman. Roseman has spent his entire career in the NFL with the Eagles. He’s been a part of the organization since 2000, and built the team up to its first two Super Bowl wins, including Super Bowl LIX.

After the parade passed by, fans turned off into the streets around South Broad, shouting “Go Birds” to anyone and everyone who passed by. Afterparties were getting underway on porches and stoops on the narrow rowhouse blocks.

The Eagles' parade was still in progress, but crowds of people who caught the Birds early in their route were already swarming back to public transit.

Danny Costello, 33, who had been parked on the Parkway since 5 a.m. with a case of Kona Big Chill beer and, remarkably, no water.

Mayor Cherelle L. Parker was spotted Friday morning riding one of the victory parade buses. But one of her quotes could be seen way up above.

Parker was all smiles, sporting a Kelly Green letterman jacket.

In the sky, fans spotted a plane hoisting a Surfside Vodka banner along with the phrase: "'E-L-G-S-E-S."

The parade is a time of celebration for everyone, and some fans get a little over-excited, trying to toss beer to their favorite players to shotgun or drink on the buses.

Unfortunately, those cans become projectiles, and on Friday, one fan accidentally hit Howie Roseman in the head, resulting in a pretty large battle scar.

Josh Sweat confirmed to NBC Sports Philadelphia that Roseman had in fact been hit with a can from the crowd, and Roseman appeared to say “beer can” from behind to confirm the exact instrument that caused the injury in question.

About 1 p.m., a couple of young men who’d been watching the parade seated on the canopy of SEPTA’s Walnut-Locust station stood and struck a Titanic pose, ala Leo DiCaprio in the bow of the doomed liner.

Another fan was sliding down a light pole.

“Get them out of there,” said Scott Sauer, interim general manager of SEPTA, watching a video feed on the 19th floor of its 1234 Market St. headquarters..

Kamari Stibbins is only 7 but she's getting used to being on the side of champions, spending her Sundays with family watching The Birds.

She's even started to like the color green, rocking the Eagles hue with an oversized Eagles hoodie and giant hat that had people complimenting her all Friday morning.

Kamari made the hike South from West Philly with her mother and grandparents—her grandmother was the one to pass down the fandown.

Jeffery Lurie can’t pick favorites between the two Super Bowl wins.

“They’re equally spectacular,” Lurie told 6abc. “It’s so hard to win a world championship in the NFL, and we’ve done it now twice. We all regret we don’t have a third from 2022, but we’re motivated to keep this up and get a third.”

The “exceptional” group of players, coaches, and staff brought the team over the line, Lurie said, and the experience has been a thrill.

It’s not just Eagles fans having a blast on Broad Street.

“Best day of my life, best day of my life,” Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean said on 6ABC, which is something considering on Sunday he got a pick-six and won the Super Bowl on his 22nd birthday.

DeJean was spotted catching a beer from a fan and shotgunning it while riding on his parade bus.

Love is in the air for husband and wife Stephen and Sharon Ian. The couple started off their Valentine’s Day festivities bright and early at 8 a.m, when they set up two camping chairs at Benjamin Franklin Parkway and 22nd Street — prime real estate for the parade.

Married for 10 years, they took turns taking swigs of Crown Royal out of a custom brown flask embroidered with Swoop’s side profile.

“It’s a good Valentine’s,” said Sharon, 63, who danced to a DJ Diamond Kuts mix blasting from the Parkway speakers.

Zack Williams, a heavy equipment operator from West Philly, has worked for the Department of Streets for 31 years. But nothing can prepare you for the chaos of parade day.

“They started climbing on my truck about a half an hour ago,” Williams said.

At first, fans asked him if they could climb up. Williams said no. Then they took matters into their own hands.

Nick Sirianni is enjoying the moment, but he’s already ready for next year.

“We’re going to run this f— back,” Sirianni told 6abc. “We played our best game of the year. We did what we set out to do, and we were able to because we’ve got great players and great coaches. We’ve got a great team.”

Sirianni wasn’t in Philadelphia last time around – but Howie Roseman was. How does Super Bowl LIX compare to Super Bowl LII?

Fans gathered from far and wide — even from New York — to be a part of this sweet victory.

Heather Medica’s family recently moved from South Philadelphia to Pittman, New Jersey, but the family made sure to come back to their old stomping grounds for the Eagles parade — with several ladders so they could see the team parade down Broad.

“We knew we were not going to make it to the front, so it would be easier to be high up,” said Lisa Medica, 10, Heather’s daughter. Lisa’s favorite players are Saquon Barkley and AJ Brown. “Saquon is really fast and I’m really fast,” said Lisa, who runs on her school’s track team.

In 2018, Jason Kelce delivered one of the most memorable speeches in front of Philly fans. Seven years later, as the Eagles parade sets off to make its journey to the Art Museum once again, fans are waiting to hear another memorable speech that could live up to the 2018 Kelce moment where the former center geared up in full Mummers attire.

Both Lane Johnson and Brandon Graham said they are planning to speak in front of the thousands of Philly fans that have joined in Friday's festivities. When Johnson was asked what fans could expect, he responded “Little bit of humor and a whole lot of heart.”

The 15-season veteran defensive end Graham didn’t say anything about whether or not he’ll come back for his 16th season but he did say to expect a heartwarming speech that may or may not include some tears.

The party on the Parkway is just getting started.

Fans were packed on the thoroughfare by the thousands around 11 a.m., though they may as well have been in New Orleans on February 8th.

That's because the mega-sized screen was replaying the Big Game for all to enjoy - again.

On a day full of celebration, Eagles fans say they’re also holding space for their loved ones who didn’t get to see today’s parade.

For Brian Gifford, 54 and a self-described “live and bleed green diehard fan,” sharing the moment with his three young sons means everything, especially because he never got to share a win with his mother, who was another lifelong fan and died in 2005.

“It's an awesome feeling that they get to see two championships in the beginning of their lives,” Gifford, who was set up at Marconi Plaza, said. “I waited all my life. The first win brought me to tears.”

For Joan Schaefer, 75 and lifelong fan, the trip from Broomall to South Philadelphia's Marconi Plaza — hours before the buses are even set to pass by — and bracing the cold was nothing.

Schafer’s youth was full of Eagles losses, but it wasn’t all doom and gloom — if anything, it made the Birds’ first win sweet and their second even sweeter.

Still, she can’t believe she got to see it all in her lifetime.

SEPTA temporarily closed the Walnut-Locust Broad Street Line station just before 10 a.m.

Trains will no longer stop and drop off passengers at the station. Southbound trains will continue on to Snyder, and northbound trains to Race-Vine.

Huge crowds on the street remain packed in and moving very little. SEPTA police and ambassadors are directing riders to stairways, where they will be permitted to exit, but no more parade-goers will be allowed in.

The Birds are officially boarding the buses in South Philly for the parade, which is expected to start at 11 a.m. Some of the Eagles, like Nolan Smith, have been live streaming the early process on social media – and most of them are already drinking, although according to Saquon Barkley, it’s not nearly enough.

“I’m super excited,” Barkley told 6 ABC, while carrying a case of Bud Light. “This is part of the whole journey of winning and the stuff you dream about as a kid too. So, excited to do it but also excited to be with family and friends.”

Does he know what to expect?

Mary Tosto’s due date is tomorrow, but as her sign says, “contractions can wait. Parade can’t.”

Tosto and her husband, Mike, who live in Northern Liberties, are hanging on Broad Street near Wharton with family and friends.

There’s a plan in place. Mary is delivering at Pennsylvania Hospital, so she made sure to be on the east side of Broad Street in case labor happens. She figures her father, Tom, or a generous police officer could get her north to deliver if necessary.

Paul Viggiano stood back from the crowds gathered on South Broad Street, taking in the view from his 11th Philadelphia championship parade — two Phillies, two Sixers, two Flyers, three Villanova, and now two Eagles.

His purple Mummers costume, an homage to his 41 years with the South Philly Strutters and to Jason Kelce’s get-up at the last Super Bowl parade, sparkled.

“When I’m on Broad Street, I wear the uniform for Broad Street,” said Viggiano, 67, a South Philly native now living in Haddon Heights. “Go Birds!”

At Broad and Snyder, what some consider Philadelphia’s most beautiful intersection, it’s an East versus West broad sort of thing.

Fans lined up along the parade route are tossing a football back and forth to each other on either side of the main street. When there’s a good throw and catch, everyone cheers. And when there’s a bad one, the thrower gets booed.

“You stink!” someone screamed when the ball was stuck in the middle of the road after a terrible spiral.

Author Jim Murphy is at the Eagles parade. He burst into the spotlight during the Eagles’ wild-card win over the Packers, when wide receiver A.J. Brown was seen reading his self-help book Inner Excellence on the sidelines. Brown was struggling on the field, and many thought it was a diva moment from the veteran wideout. Instead, it turned out to be something more.

Brown later said that he got the book from teammate Moro Ojomo, and reads it often during games — this was just the first time it was caught on TV. Fans immediately latched onto the book, rocketing it to No. 1 on Amazon charts overnight as they ordered it en masse and began leaving favorable reviews, many impersonating Brown.

Of course, the Eagles went on to win the Super Bowl — and Inner Excellence also made an appearance there after Brown caught a second-quarter touchdown.

Philadelphia-bound parade goers flooded SEPTA and PATCO early - some before the sun rose.

At mid-morning, the Walnut-Locust station was partially closed to prevent new riders from entering, but huge crowds were inside. Some riders trying to get out of the station from the closed entrance grew agitated, climbing light poles and lifting themselves on top of the enclosure that protects the stairs to try to get out.

Lines were long but the mood was festive on the PATCO train from Ferry Ave. at 9 am.

Hurricane LaRue, 42, came to the Broad and South intersection at 3 a.m. and had his grill running. "I'm a season ticket holder and I tailgate at every Eagles game. I'm just here spreading brotherly love because the only good way to celebrate the Super Bowl win is by tailgating."

On the menu at 8.50 a.m. were chicken burgers but the menu on offer boasts of BBQ chicken, spiced cider, rib eye steak, and, of course, cheesesteaks.

Cooking, LaRue said, runs in the family. "I taught him. I'm older, don't let him fool you," said his sister, West Philly native Sharae Woods, 49.

The timing and location of the Eagles’ Super Bowl parade couldn’t have been better for Michael Orr, owner of you ink it, a t-shirt store across from the Ferry Ave, PATCO train station in Camden.

Orr, of Haddon Township, said he setup a t-shirt and hat stand outside at 5 am, and business was as brisk as the weather as thousands of people filled the park and ride lot, mostly full by 9 am.

“We've been selling it for months” Orr said of Eagles related gear. “We have a vendor's license and we sell in a Northeast Philly building.”

Even if it wasn’t Valentine’s Day, Temple University roommates Aniya Williams-Bey and Talear Morris would’ve been showing their love for Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and running back Saquon Barkley along the parade route.

They each made signs dedicated to their crushes.

“Hot girls skip classes to see Jalen Hurts,” Williams-Bey, 18, of Connecticut, had written on her poster board (Technically, she clarified, university classes were canceled today for the celebrations).

Mike Iles and his friends packed into two Jitneys – usually seen rolling the streets of Atlantic City – at 3 a.m. on Friday morning so they could make sure to get a parking spot by the stadiums in South Philly. They have been posted here over 4 hours, just off Broad Street in a public parking spot.

“No later than 3:45 we were here, it was beautiful,” said Iles, who had a Surfside alcoholic seltzer in hand around 8 a.m. but had clearly been pacing himself.

The cost is about $40 or $50 a person, and they plan to clear out around 2:30 to head back down the expressway to home in Hammonton. They expect little traffic: “After the parade goes by, about 40 minutes later it starts dissipating,” said Iles.

There were tees of green. Red coolers, too. 

It was a wonderful world for Eagles’ fans as they flooded the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to celebrate the Birds’ second Super Bowl win.

Fans donning jerseys over winter gear carried the essentials across the Spring Garden Street bridge: foldable chairs, blankets, and cases of Bud Light.

Nakobe Dean is intrigued.

Cooper DeJean is doubtful, but he may dress for the occasion.

Zack Baun is mostly thinking in terms of quantities of alcohol.

Add Deptford to the list of schools that will be closed as the Eagles parade through Philadelphia.

In a letter posted on their website Thursday night, Deptford Township Schools Superintendent Kevin Kanauss said all schools will be closed Friday due to "a much greater number of staff callouts than anticipated."

Knauss said the district had all intention of being opened tomorrow, but as the number of teachers and staff calling out increased Thursday night, "we are simply at the point where we will be unable to safely transport and supervise our students."

Just like their fanbase, the Eagles are looking forward to their teammates’ parade speeches.

At locker clean-out on Thursday, a handful of Eagles players discussed which of their teammates’ speeches they’re most excited to hear at Friday’s Super Bowl LIX parade. One player’s name was uttered more frequently than the rest.

“I'm ready for BG [Brandon Graham],” Isaiah Rodgers said. “I just feel like he's going to say some funny, crazy stuff. I think the whole city is waiting on him.”

With over one million people expected to attend today's Eagles parade, space along Broad Street and near the art museum is going to be at a premium.

Which is why some die-hard fans began claiming their spot Thursday evening.

“My whole family’s excited. We’ve been Eagles fans our whole life,” a man named Ed from Perkasie, Pa. told Fox 29’s Steve Keeley Thursday night. Ed was set up outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art with a tent intended to house him and “seven or eight” more people who planned to show up overnight. 

Philadelphia will be jam-packed Friday with revelers looking to celebrate the Eagles’ Super Bowl win with the city’s planned victory parade, but you don’t have to be on Broad Street to join in on the festivities.

It all kicks off at 11 a.m. at Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, right near the South Philadelphia sports complex. Players, friends, family, and fans will then parade up Broad Street to City Hall, then hit the Benjamin Franklin Parkway to conclude the route at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Officials expect the procession to arrive at the museum’s famed Rocky Steps between 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m., with official ceremonies slated to begin around 2 p.m. The program is slated to wrap up around 3:15 p.m.

The following streets will be closed from 5 a.m. until approximately 6 p.m.:

The following streets will be designated “local access only” west of 22nd Street:

The following streets will be closed from 7:30 a.m. until approximately 6 p.m.:

The parade kicks off at 11 a.m. at Broad Street and Pattison Avenue in South Philly, travels north on Broad Street to City Hall, then turns onto the Ben Franklin Parkway and ends at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The rally at the Art Museum steps is scheduled for 2 p.m. and will run until about 3:15 p.m.

Where you choose to watch depends on the experience you want. Do you want to be up close with the players? Do you care more about the speeches at the Art Museum? Are you looking for a spot that won’t feel suffocating?

Broad Street: High energy, quick action