Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)

Eagles army shows devotion

Unwashed jerseys, long-lived fans, even cows cheering on Birds

- By Alex Rose

The name of the team may the Philadelph­ia Eagles, but there is little doubt that fandom has a wide reach for the region as fans from surroundin­g counties gear up for the Birds’ second Super Bowl appearance in five years, this time against the Kansas City Chiefs.

A recent nationwide survey of more than 1,000 Philadelph­ia and Kansas City fans conducted by BonusFinde­r.com found that Eagles supporters love their team so much, in fact, that many as 18% would skip the birth of their child for a win in Sunday’s game.

The survey also found the same percent of Eagles fans would skip a family member’s funeral just to watch the game and 1 in 4 would choose winning the Super Bowl to winning $1 million, and call in sick to celebrate a victory.

Lifelong fans

One place likely no one will be calling out sick on game day will be Brandywine Living at Senior Suites in East Norriton, Montgomery County, where Community Relations Director Kelly Richardson said the facility’s parlor and pub will be decked out for a surprising­ly lively group of fans living there.

“We still have so much legacy and so many passionate people here,” she said. “They’re probably the longest-lived Eagles fans that we know.”

Richardson said games typically attract 40 to 50 attendees and Sunday is looking to be no different. Staff will have some dress-down days in anticipati­on and are encouraged to wear Eagles green, she said, and residents have been encouraged to invite family to join them on game day.

The flat-screen TVs will all be tuned into the game in the pub and parlor area of the facility, said Richardson, which will itself be festooned with Birds decoration­s and even some official swag donated by a staff member who is also an Eagles coordinato­r.

“We’re going to have a huge crowd,” said Richardson.

Expected to be among them are two lifelong Eagles fans and Brandywine residents, Kevin Young, 67, and Terry Savino, 91.

“I’ve been an Eagles fan all my life,” said Young. “I don’t know of anyone in this area who’s not an Eagles fan.”

“We have to always support the local team,” put in Savino.

Young said that is typically “very difficult,” given the Birds’ dearth of Super Bowl appearance­s over the past 40-odd years.

That track record has been getting slightly better of late, with a 2018 win over New England and a sense that the Eagles momentum may carry them on to a second victory just five years later.

“I’m excited. Our families will be with us,” said Young. “That’d be great to have my family come in and see what it’s like.”

“If I have to be anywhere other than home, this is the place,” Savino said.

Chance of a lifetime

Young was unfortunat­ely in the hospital for the last Super Bowl, but one Delaware County couple found themselves unexpected­ly at that game after winning tickets from local radio station Q102.

“We are die-hard Eagles fans and I would sit in my car every time they (the radio station) would say to call,” said Kelsey Hansen of Swarthmore. “Fiftytwo people got entered into it, and then you had to go to an Acme … and there was a raffle. It was like two days before the Super Bowl, but they couldn’t book your flight until you won.”

Hansen’s husband, Dylan Terenick, somehow got one of those coveted 52 spots and wound up winning the grand prize: A year’s supply of hotdogs and a lot of Pepsi.

Oh, and two tickets to Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapoli­s, complete with airfare and snazzy accommodat­ions.

“They pulled his number and it was the craziest experience ever,” Hansen said. “We were at the Wing Bowl earlier that day and they started looking at the flights and were like, ‘Oh my gosh, you guys have to be in the airport in like, five hours.’ ”

The couple were not actually expecting to win, of course, so they had no clean jerseys and nothing packed. They had to race home, throw together a bag and high-tail it to the gate before they missed their chance to see the Eagles “phinally” take the Vince Lombardi trophy 41-33 over the Patriots.

“It was like a whirlwind,” Hansen said. “They were incredible seats. They were 100 level. It was one of the most incredible experience­s and it just happened so fast. Even talking about it now just gives me chills.”

Hansen, currently awaiting delivery of the Eagles Christmas album, said she was literally born into Eagles fandom during a playoff game, joking that her mom even tried to push off labor until the game was over.

“The whole family is insane Eagles fans,” she said. “My husband is getting more into it because of us. His first time actually meeting my mom was during an Eagles/Dallas game and I was not sure if he was ever going to come back. But my whole family is really die-hard and now my husband is really into it, too.”

The officiant at their wedding, a longtime family friend and fellow Swarthmore native, is now a sports writer covering the Chiefs for The

Kansas City Star, Hansen noted, so there is some family connection to this Super Bowl as well.

The odds he will be able to score them tickets to this game are pretty long, she said, but he has been sending videos from media events in Phoenix, including one of Hansen’s favorite Eagles: Jason Kelce. The center will be facing off Sunday against his brother Travis, a tight end for the Chiefs.

“That was always my dream growing up, I was like, ‘I’m going to marry one of the Kelce brothers and be Kelsey Kelce,’ ” she laughed. “They’re so funny, they’re great.”

Kelsey and Dylan made it out to five games this season, including the NFC championsh­ip game where the Eagles absolutely trounced the San Francisco 49ers 31-7.

They had also gone to the 2018 NFC championsh­ip game, and everyone knows how that turned out, so she is hopeful that history repeats.

“The energy there is just so electric,” Hansen said. “This year I think we all stayed in the stands for an hour and a half afterwards. We met a lot of people going to this year’s Super Bowl, which is really cool, so hopefully they send us some pictures and videos as well. There’s nothing like the Eagles fan base, you know?”

Kelsey and Dylan will be taking in the game in Philly this year and will storm Broad Street not if, but “when the Eagles win,” she said.

Meanwhile, they will be keeping traditions alive ahead of the festivitie­s, like giving her mom an NFC championsh­ip rally towel, as they had in 2018 — “because it worked last time” — and wearing the same unwashed Kelce jersey and bucket hat she has all season.

“And that’s ok,” Kelsey said. “I’m not going to change it this week, either. It’s kind of concerning, but also awesome.”

Moove along, Chiefs

Less concerning, but also awesome, is the recent addition of five new Holsteins to the Kurtland Farms family dairy near Elverson near the Chester-Berks line, all named for Eagles players as a show of support to the team.

“We have a number of cows on our farm. Every now and then some special ones pick up some names,” said Jared Kurtz, a fourth-generation farmer at the dairy his great-grandfathe­r started in 1920 with just a handful of cows. “I was always passionate about them and pretty much every Philly sports team, but I think the Eagles and the Phillies have always had sort of a special spot in my heart.”

Enter “Cowce,” “Milkerson,” “Seamamoo,” “Pascow” and “Moolata,” the youngest players for Team Kurtland, who are named for Kelce, guards Landon Dickerson and Isaac Seumalo, wide receiver Zach Pascal and offensive tackle Jordan Mailata, respective­ly.

Kurtz grew up in the trade, but it was never assured he would come back for good. He went off to college and got a job in the tech sector for a couple of years, but was still pulling shifts part time at the dairy. In 2014, he decided to come back full time.

Over more than 100 years, Kurtz said each generation has added and grown a little bit and the farm now boasts 320 Holsteins that deliver milk every other day to the Land O’ Lakes cooperativ­e.

The milk coming out of Kurtland winds up in processing facilities throughout the Susquehann­a and Delaware valleys, said Kurtz, and contribute­s to any number of products sold in the southeaste­rn Pennsylvan­ia area.

A lifelong Eagles fan, the tradition being passed down by his parents and just living in the region, Kurtz got to enjoy the last Eagles Super Bowl win with all three of his children — the fifth generation of Kurtland farmers — in 2018.

“My oldest one was 5, so this is his second trip to the Super Bowl, which is pretty spoiled, if you’re asking me,” the dad joked. “Phillies going to the World Series, two Super Bowls — they have no idea. … But it’s been a lot of fun kind of seeing them grow their passion about it and enjoying it as a family.”

The farm partners with Fuel Up to Play 60, the NFL’s youth wellness program that encourages healthy eating and physical activity among youth, as well as the Dairy Research and Promotion Program, also known as the Dairy Checkoff Program.

“The Fuel Up part of the Fuel Up to Play 60 is the dairy nutrition side that really works with school kids, making sure kids have opportunit­ies to consume dairy and also understand the nutritiona­l benefits of it,” said Kurtz. “So we have worked with our regional checkoff, with the NFL teams on how to promote that.”

Kurtland has done various events with the Eagles and the American Dairy Associatio­n Northeast over the years, and in December the Kurtz family got to do a photo shoot with Dickerson. That led to some brainstorm­ing on how to continue supporting the Eagles as they have supported promotion of dairy products, Kurtz said, and hence the new additions to the farm.

Despite the low-hanging fruit, Kurtland did not add a “Britain Cowey” among its draft picks this year. But as Eagles fans know all too well: There’s always next season.

 ?? COURTESY OF JARED KURTZ ?? Jared Kurtz with “Milkerson,” one of five new cows named for Eagles players at Kurtland Farms near Elverson
COURTESY OF JARED KURTZ Jared Kurtz with “Milkerson,” one of five new cows named for Eagles players at Kurtland Farms near Elverson

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