Losers no more; a city & team smashes a persistent shroud

10:17 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 4. Write down the time and the date. We’re not losers anymore. We’re Super Bowl champions. Phinally! The Underdogs are now Top Dogs.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Actually, it was. Then it wasn’t. Early in the season, the Eagles showed themselves to be the best team in the NFC, steamrolling one opponent after another.

They had overcome every hurdle placed in their path. They lost their All-Pro offensive tackle Jason Peters. They watched as their best back, Darren Sproles, limped off, gone for the season. Their star middle linebacker, Jordan Hicks, would soon join the growing ranks of star players on the shelf.

Then the unthinkable happened. The Eagles lost the one player most believed they could not afford to lose. When potential MVP quarterback Carson Wentz’s knee exploded, most experts believed it stuck a pin in the bubble that contained Eagles fans’ Super Bowl dreams.

But this team long before had adopted the notion of “next man up.” They overcame every obstacle put in their way.

They took to the role of Underdog. They put on dog masks. The city’s football team adopted the psyche of its favorite mythical son, Rocky, the lovable long shot with a puncher’s chance.

Second-year head coach Doug Pederson rallied his troops behind veteran backup Nick Foles.

With each week, Foles grew into the role of backup to star. He led the Birds to a tight win over the Falcons in the divisional round of the playoffs, with a second half performance that gave an inkling of what was to come.

Then he went out and sparkled vs. the Vikings in the NFC Championship game.

One game remained. Against perhaps the best quarterback ever to lace up a set of spikes.

For two weeks, all Foles and the Eagles heard was how they stacked up against Tom Brady. Call it Destiny vs. Dynasty. In a Super Bowl for the ages, Destiny seized the crown, deposing Brady, Bill Belichick and the vaunted Patriots.

But it did not come easy. The Eagles led most of the game, only to see Brady rally the Patriots and take a late lead. But Foles was not to be denied. He marched the Eagles right back down the field to reclaim the lead.

But there was still time for Brady. Surely he had one more magical Super Bowl moment.

Not this time. Not this night. This one belonged to Philly.

When that final desperation toss was batted down in the end zone, generations of Eagles angst came to an end.

Longtime Eagles radio play-byplay man wasted no time seizing the moment.

“Eagles fans everywhere, this is for you,” Reese intoned.

It was a theme quickly picked up by Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, shortly after he picked up the Lombardi Trophy defining the Super Bowl Champions.

“I would like to dedicate this for all Eagles fans around the world,” said Lurie. This was the owner often mocked for his insistence on the “gold standard” and modeling his team after the one staring at them from the opposite sideline last night. The Patriots were all of that. And they have the Super Bowl trophies to prove it.

But not last night. Sunday night it was the underdog Eagles showing their gold mettle. Thus ended 58 years of misery. Yes, it was more than half a century ago when Chuck Bednarik sat on Jim Taylor, sealing the Eagles last world championship, over Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers.

Sunday night it was Philly vs. another dynasty. And we won. As you might expect, the celebration was immediate – and dramatic. People poured into the streets. In Center City Philadelphia. In Havertown. In Ridley. In West Chester.

The shroud that had resided over Philly fans was lifted forever.

The Flyers were first to help wipe away this stigma. The Sixers had their moment in the sun. The Phillies gave us two special seasons, interspersed with the usual heartache.

But there is a special bond this city – and region – has with this football team.

It is what has sustained us through the Marion Campbell and Ed Khayat years. It is what sparked our outrage at news that Leonard Tose actually considered moving the team to Phoenix. It is the hope that was instilled by a brash young coach from UCLA named Dick Vermeil. It was the crusty, old-school world of Buddy Ryan. It was the years of coming so close under Andy Reid. And it was the mirage of Chip Kelly.

Doug Pederson was not an especially popular choice when he was hired two years ago. He was an Andy Reid protégé. Andy Reid lite, went the mocking refrain. One national pundit called him the “least qualified” head coach in the NFL.

Thus was born the Underdog. Pederson instilled it in his team. They wore it as a badge of honor.

After nearly six decades – two generations – the Eagles are Super Bowl champions. The loser tag is gone forever. Who’s up for a parade?