On Sunday night February 4, 2018, the drought ended for Philadelphia football fans when the Eagles won their first Super Bowl in franchise history. They managed to pull out a win, in a back-and-forth game, against the favored New England Patriots with a final score of 41-33. Following the win, Eagles’ fans took to Broad Street in downtown Philadelphia to celebrate. Many brought their children to witness the historic moment.Associated Press reporter, Dustin Seidman, who was there with his wife and two young children aged 10 and 8, commented “We wouldn't miss this.
It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience." But while parents walked around with strollers, baby carriers, and young children in hand, chaos erupted around them.
Despite mayor’s urging rioting breaks out
After the win, Philadelphia mayor Jim Kenney released a statement offering congratulations to the Eagles and encouraging responsible celebrations. Part of his statement reads, “this is the day, the game, the season, and the team we’ve dreamed of. The 2017-18 Philadelphia Eagles are Super Bowl Champions, and they’ve brought tremendous joy to hundreds of thousands throughout the city and region." He then cautioned everyone to celebrate in such a way that would make Philadelphia proud. But like other winning sports cities before them, Philly fans’ celebrations got out of control when massive crowds, as large as 100,000 people, gathered.
At first, crowds were tame but as the drinking and noise grew so did the destruction. Rowdy fans brought disgrace to the city when they climbed light poles, jumped on awnings, flipped a car, started fires, and looted local businesses.
Destruction on the streets
Chaos abounded as fans jumped and back-flipped off the awning of the Ritz-Carlton hotel, diving into the crowd.
The awning collapsed soon after. Though police had greased the light poles with hydraulic fluid prior to the game to discourage climbing, crazed fans persisted and managed to not only climb them but also to knock them down as they fell under the weight. One man jumped from a pole and landed on his head. A Macy’s window was smashed, and items were looted while people shouted that everything was free.
Some set off fireworks while others just set fires. One rowdy pack of men managed to flip over a random car for the fun of it while another (hopefully) very inebriated man ate horse manure off the street. Police were finally able to regain control and disperse the crowd around 12:30 AM. Many injuries were reported, and arrests were made, although the exact amount is still unknown.
