Reliving Super Bowl 52

It seems like just yesterday and an eternity ago simultaneously, the franchise has gone through so much turmoil this last year that we forget only three years ago The Eagles achieved the ultimate glory and got the monkey off of their back. They were champions, we were champions. In a game for the ages, a backup quarterback and a second year head coach did the unthinkable and led an injury riddled team to the glory that eluded this franchise for more than half a century. They took down the greatest head coach and quarterback of all time, in a game none of us will ever forget. Today The QBFS team will recount what that moment of pure rhapsody meant to us.

Biggie:

What Super Bowl 52 meant to me can be described in a short story about my Dad and I watching the game. My Dad was 3-4 weeks out of having hip replacement surgery and was still using a cane to get around.   When the Brandon Graham strip sack occurred, all 230lbs of me sprinted and jumped into my Dad's arms, totally forgetting the new hip.  And he caught and held all my weight as if I was a 5-6 year old little boy.  It was pure, complete happiness that took over as we both screamed and cried tears of joy watching.  And the million pound weight of all those awful past seasons, playoff failures and "never won a super bowl jokes" fell off our shoulders and all was good.  GO BIRDS!!!!

Blanco:

It’s still a surreal feeling to this day when I think back to that moment when the ball bounced off of the ground in the end zone from a Tom Brady Hail Mary with the game clock at zero. I am getting hyped just thinking about it while I write this. I spent the libation-filled evening with my main man, and QBFS co-host Dann “The Mann” Wetzell at his place where we both cheered and cried on multiple occasions throughout the game. It was a constant “We’re gonna win!” and “We’re gonna lose!” rollercoaster of a game, with the end result being two grown ass men jumping for joy in each others’ arms, giddy like little kids. “We Fucking Won” were the words we kept repeating. Fireworks blasting everywhere outside, it was a bigger celebration than New Years and Independence day combined for Philly, and it would last all the way to parade day. I can’t wait to do it again!

Dann:

what winning super bowl 52 meant to me. The heartbreak feeling of being so close to the Lombardi trophy in the early 2000, is something that will never be forgotten.

2017 was a special year for eagles football. Watching the Jake Elliot 61 yard kick to win the game at Keenan's, Beating the 2016 NFC champion Panthers on Thursday night football., Watching the eagles demolish the Broncos at Xfinity Live, just to name a few.

Last but not least, having a pact that if the eagles had a home NFC championship game, no matter the circumstances, we would go. The tickets were purchased and we were off to see what would be another Eagles NFC championship and a Berth to Super Bowl 52. Words can't explain the atmosphere in that stadium. The countdown to a known victory to see the Eagles advance to the super bowl was a feeling unlike any other. While all this would have been treasured for the rest of my life,   the Eagles capped it off by winning Super Bowl 52, making it the most sensational year I have experienced as a lifetime Eagles fan.

Bren:

Some people say it meant everything but it meant something different to everyone. To me it meant one word, "BLISS". It was the ultimate culmination of sheer joy and happiness throughout not only an entire city but the world. Eagles fans are not just here in Philadelphia, no. We are a worldwide family. The term "Go Birds" is used on multiple levels for multiple things. That night all the pain, heartache, loss and countless disappointing years came to an end when it was finally our turn to feel that feeling. As I sat on the edge of my seat next to my family for every minute of that emotional roller coaster ride of a game finally ending in a victory I couldn't help but think how lucky I was to be celebrating with my loved ones. Some passed without seeing the super victory. Fans went to gravesites of loved ones and put championship shirts on their headstones. Others actually listened to the broadcast while sitting in a graveyard. The one thing that I loved more about that night aside from winning was the togetherness. There was no hate, no racism, no divide, no politics. We were all one city. We were all Eagles fans. We were all Champions.

Palumbo:

The Super Bowl meant everything to me. I was brought up in a family of die hard fanatics. Hearing my grandfather, father and uncles scream at the TV every Sunday during the Ray Rhodes era was the soundtrack to my youth. That all changed with the hiring of Andy Reid. Andy turned us into perennial contenders but never had quite enough to take us to the promised land. My first heart break was that ice cold night in January of 2002, I don’t need to elaborate. Then again the next year when Donovan threw three interceptions. And again the year after in Jacksonville. That all changed February 4th of 2018. I remember watching the first half with my family in the suburbs of Philadelphia, you could cut the tension in that room with a knife. The first half was a roller coaster of ups and downs, every time we scored they scored and every time they scored we answered back . I remember flying home to the city after the Philly Special; I needed to be at Cottman and Frankford if we won that game. The second half was filled with memorable moments like the Ertz touchdown and BGs strip sack, but none of it mattered. The GOAT was knocking at our door, ready to break our hearts once again. The Hail Mary was thrown, it seemed like that ball was in the air for an eternity. The ball hit the turf, I hit my knees and sobbed like a baby. The tears weren’t for myself but for my grandfather, for the fans who never got a chance to see it, for the 40 year season ticket holders. The tears were for Dawkins, for Westbrook, for Trot and for Runyan. The tears were for Ray Didinger, Merrill Reese and Mike  Quick. The tears were for Reggie, Jerome, Eric Allen, Randall and Jaws. The tears were for every time we said “well maybe next year”. The tears were for  everyone of us who bleeds green.

We could win 5 championships in our lifetime and honestly, nothing can ever equate to that night; the night we did it, the night we were immortalized. No matter what happened this season, or what happens the next. That team, that season, that night will live forever in our minds and hearts.

Listen to our latest episode on Spotify, follow us @qbfactoryshow on Instagram to catch us live on Thursday nights.