By: Peyton Voorheis
Staff Writer
Students filled the J.C. Williams Center Atrium on Sunday to watch the Eagles and the Chiefs in the 59th Superbowl, With students from all over the country in support of both teams. There may have been mixed reactions to the Eagles win on campus, but just a short 340 miles away, the city of Philadelphia erupted.
Over 10,000 fans filled the streets of Philadelphia, only moments after the final score was declared. The evening was only just getting started, with celebratory chanting and fireworks. Raucous, but not yet reckless, as green and white took over broad street, singing “Fly, Eagles Fly!”
It is not an uncommon occurrence to see fans going wild for their sports team — and all the more so when it comes to large championship games. Philadelphia is well known for these celebrations getting out of hand, and prior to the Super Bowl, their mayor issued a statement cautioning citizens to be safe, regardless of the outcome of the game.
It did not take long for the celebrations to escalate. Fans climbed atop cars, trucks, and bus stations. That’s not all that superfans scaled, though. Previous celebrations in the City of Brotherly Love have resulted in attempts to shimmy up traffic light poles — to the point where the city will now grease them ahead of big games.
Although the city of New Orleans, the hosts of the big game, decided to grease their traffic lights for the first time this year, the poles in Philadelphia were left inexplicably dry — some civilians even managed to remove and parade around six of these poles.
A video of several fans burning a Kermit the Frog puppet in the street has surfaced, seeming to be intended as a slight against Kansas City Chiefs player Patrick Mahomes. This is not the first time the famous Muppet has been used to taunt the quarterback, with NFL fans making the connection due to Mahomes’ distinctive voice.
It has also been suggested that the celebration for this win was all the more extreme because the game was against the Chiefs, who have won the two previous Super Bowls. In fact, the dramatic upset may even be the reason why these celebrations seem to outshine those of 2018, when the Eagles brought home their first Super Bowl trophy.
There were a total of 16 arrests made by Philadelphia police for vandalism, assaulting officers and other reckless behavior. Additionally, 29 citations were handed out for disorderly conduct.
After a Super Bowl win, it is tradition for a victory parade to be hosted throughout the hometown. The parade will take place Feb. 14 and has been routed to pass many iconic sites of Philadelphia. A massive turnout is expected, all the more so now that schools will be closing to mark the occasion.
As these preparations are made, it becomes clear that even as chaos settles down, the City of Brotherly Love will be in a celebratory mood for quite some time to come.