Eagles fans climb poles, party in the streets, and celebrate another trip to the Super Bowl

Bourbon Street, creamed white last week by a historic snowfall, is about to turn a decided shade of green.

With the Eagles headed to the 59th Super Bowl in the Big Easy, flocks of Birds fans are sure to follow — providing they have some energy left from raucous celebrations Sunday night after the 55-23 dismantling of the Washington Commanders in the NFC championship game in South Philly.

Within an hour of the game’s end, every inch of Broad Street near City Hall was taken over by revelatory fans, some of whom managed to climb poles despite an impressive police presence.

Some revelers got carried away, according to Philadelphia Police Capt. Frank Palumbo, who reported property damage and “several arrests.” State troopers lined up by a barricade on South Penn Square, batons in hand. One man stood atop a pole in an Eagles costume head, another dangled precariously from the tiny branches of a small tree that was still decorated with Christmas lights, and a trash truck was covered by Eagles fans singing the fight song.

But mostly, people luxuriated in a decidedly intergenerational party. Celebrant Nina Cabral marched up Broad Street toward City Hall, waving an Eagles flag, a toddler strapped to her back. Men in green shirts hugged. Fireworks went off in Mayfair as crowds gathered at Cottman and Frankford Avenues.

And Ashley Marcial, 24, who was seriously injured when she fell through the roof of a bus stop shelter while celebrating the Eagles’ 2023 NFC title, was back on Broad Street Sunday. “I’m going back up there,” she said. “But I’m going to be safe this time, I promise.”

It was a celebration that seemed to begin hours before kickoff. The Broad Street subway cars had mutated into roaring, rolling pep rallies.

And when Saquon Barkley bounced off and eluded Washington tacklers like a New York cabdriver weaving through traffic for a 60-yard touchdown run on the Eagles’ first play from scrimmage, the 107-decibel roar rivaled that of a rush-hour express train.

After a Super Bowl loss in 2023 and last year’s crushing wild-card round defeat that left the city about as festive as a losing candidate’s election party, Eagles fans were jonesing to pop the corks and ultra-shaken champagne bottles. They got their wish.

The roaring never stopped.

Barkley runs for another touchdown. The Eagles recover two fumbles. A.J. Brown catches a touchdown pass. The Eagles pull away in the fourth quarter on the way to setting a scoring record for a conference title game.

“Super Bowl in two weeks,” 35-year-old Tyrone Vanilier, a fan since the days of Eagles great Brian Dawkins and the 2005 near-miss team, proclaimed at halftime. He knew what he was talking about.

» READ MORE: Eagles’ victory gives kids (and their parents) a reason to party on a very exciting school night

College student Tucker Minor, who got to execute his first pole-climb, on South Broad Street outside the Ritz Carlton hotel, declared, ”This is not a what if, we are definitely winning this Super Bowl.”

At Broad and Washington in South Philly, fans roamed the streets in defiance of traffic.

What makes Eagles fans so exuberant?

Standing outside McGillin’s Olde Ale House in Center City, Mary Aspell was among those waiting in a January chill to get inside, along with hundreds of green-clad faithful in lines at bars along Chestnut Street. She said that to understand Eagles fans, you have to understand Philly. She said that their zeal speaks to the poverty of fandom in other cities.

“They complain about Philly fans, but they are just jealous. Their city is boring,” Aspell said. “We are just about our city; they are missing out and we are making friends in the process.”

Teddy Sourias, who owns Brü and Tradesman’s and several other establishments, said that is absolutely true. Win or lose, the reactions are going to be “extreme,” he said.

Of course, that has a downside. When the Eagles come up short, “The crowds immediately scatter and the city becomes desolate not only for the night, but for the next week this weighs on our Eagles fans.”

Understandable. Philadelphia fans have endured more heartbreak than most, in large part because they’ve been in the heartbreak game longer than most. The Phillies and Eagles were among the founding franchises in their respective sports. For that matter, the region has some fans who are still smarting from the Phillies’ historic 1964 collapse.

To quote the poet Emily Dickinson (not believed to be an Eagles fan), “Success is counted sweetest … By those who ne’er succeed.”

» READ MORE: ‘Inner Excellence’ spotted on Broad Street as Eagles fans celebrate the NFC championship win

The fans’ tendency to extreme reactions was evident at the outset as the Commanders put together an impressive drive on their first possession. But as soon as the Eagles got the ball back, Barkley romped to the end zone, eliciting that subway-noise rivaling roar.

When Barkley barreled his way into the end zone for his second touchdown, Eagles’ legendary announcer Merrill Reese declared, “He is unbelievable.”

Not all of the 67,000 fans crammed into Lincoln Financial Field — where the cheapest seat in the house wasn’t even a seat, but standing room, was going for $700-plus — were wearing green.

A brave delegation of Commanders’ partisans showed up wearing burgundy and gold.

Among them was Commander fan legend Tailgate Ted.

“I’m not missing this,” Ted said among the pregame parking-lot tailgaters. “We haven’t had this in 33 years,” he added, referring to the last time his team went to the Super Bowl. “I wanted a place where all of our fans could come together and be safe behind enemy lines.”

Ted went viral on social media on the eve of the NFC championship game after delivering a game-time hype speech to Commanders fans at their pep rally at the Hard Rock Cafe on Market Street. Since then, he’s caught a lot of hate from the green-clad masses.

» READ MORE: No Commanders fans in sight at the Hard Rock Cafe after a ‘take over’ before the NFC championship loss to the Eagles

“If I was 20 years younger I probably would have commented back,” Ted said. “But at this point you need to move on. My mute list on X is longer than a CVS receipt at this point.”

Commanders fan Jeffrey Clark drove from Virginia with friends to watch the game in Philly.

As a crowd of about 10 people chased them down Ranstead Street, Clark, wearing a scarf with his team colors, said he didn’t regret the decision.

”I’m sad we lost, buts it’s fine,” the 50-year-old said as some local fans put their middle fingers to his face. ”People complain about Philadelphia fans but they aren’t that bad. Or maybe it’s just the fact that I’m a 6-foot-8 man.”

Staff writers Jesse Bunch, Alex Coffey, Sam Gregg, and Ariel Simpson contributed to this article.