Philadelphia (AFP) – Hundreds of thousands of Philadelphia Eagles fans lined the streets on Friday to celebrate the team’s Super Bowl 59 victory over Kansas City with a parade that ended at the iconic “Rocky” statue. The NFL team’s march down Broad Street began at the team’s home stadium on the southside and continued to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where the statue of famed movie boxer Rocky Balboa stands atop the stairs leading into the museum.
“This is a special team and we can’t be great without the greatness of others and that certainly applies to our fans,” Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said. A sea of green-clad supporters, some who arrived Thursday night to get positions along the street, turned out in the “City of Brotherly Love” to cheer their heroes.
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“You can’t use words to describe this,” Eagles star running back Saquon Barkley said while riding atop an open-top bus in the parade. “Every time I think Philly can’t take it to another level, it takes it to a whole ‘nother level. This city deserves it all and here we are. I might be having too much fun.” He added, “The way they showed out, the way they showed up, you can’t make it up.”
It’s only the third championship victory parade for a Philadelphia sports team in the past 40 years, following the 2008 Philadelphia Phillies win the World Series and the Eagles victory over New England in Super Bowl 52. “You get a little greedy and start thinking about the future and this brings you back to the moment,” Barkley said.
The city’s Love statue, with the letters of the word in a square form, received an addition with the word “Hurts” placed after it in tribute to Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, the Most Valuable Player in last Sunday’s 40-22 Super Bowl triumph over the defending champion Chiefs. “Philly, on behalf of my teammates and myself, we want to thank you for all your support this year,” Hurts told the fans. “All the passion, every ounce of it.”
Hurts finally saw the Rocky statue in person. “I told myself I wouldn’t come to the Rocky steps until we won the championship and now we’re here,” Hurts said. “This team has had to battle through so much. This team has had to fight, has had to persevere. There has been a ton of scrutiny, a ton of opinions, but one thing about this city, we fight.
“You learn that success isn’t built off approval. It’s built off endurance. It’s built off strength. You can’t lose if you don’t quit and in Philly we don’t quit.” He concluded, “The next pursuit begins. Go Birds.” A throng of fans sang the team fight song “Fly Eagles Fly” from all around the museum stairs before players walked out from atop the stairs to roars of delight from the crowd, later leading the crowd in singing, “We Are The Champions.”
“There are no words to describe this, Philly,” Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said. “This team and its fans share a bond second to none.” Eagles receiver A.J. Brown took aim at critics, saying: “They said I was a diva. They said all I cared about was stats. You get all those things wrong about me but there’s one thing you can get right. I’m a champion.”
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