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Flashback Friday: Philadelphia Eagles win Super Bowl LII, capture the Lombardi Trophy

By Geoffrey Knox

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - FEBRUARY 04: Zach Ertz #86 of the Philadelphia Eagles scores an 11-yard fourth quarter touchdown past Devin McCourty #32 of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium on February 4, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - FEBRUARY 04: Zach Ertz #86 of the Philadelphia Eagles scores an 11-yard fourth quarter touchdown past Devin McCourty #32 of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium on February 4, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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On February 4th of 2018, the Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl LII, giving them their first Lombardi Trophy in team history.

You can be honest now. There were times that you thought the Philadelphia Eagles would never win the Lombardi Trophy. It’s okay. You can admit to it now. That’s neither a knock on you or your fanhood. Even before their team appeared in Super Bowl LII, fans of ‘The Birds’ had long established themselves as the most loyal in sports.

Their hatred of the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, and New York Giants had long been evident, but even though Philly had seen tremendous success against their rivals from the NFC East, they were the only members of their division who had never won football’s biggest game.

Failure in Super Bowl XV led to three straight failures in the NFC Championship Game before a victory in a fourth-straight appearance gave Philly a berth in Super Bowl XXXIX versus the New England Patriots.

Unfortunately, that led to more failure as Philly was on the wrong side of a three-point loss.

The Eagles and their fans would experience more heartbreak as another NFC Title Game appearance resulted in another loss, this one to the Arizona Cardinals on January 18th of 2009.

Each one of those losses led to disappointment. Each of those disappointments made Philly’s first Super Bowl victory all the more special. On one night, February 4th, all of those failures were given a different meaning, and the Eagles, led by backup quarterback Nick Foles and second-year head coach Doug Pederson defeated the greatest coach and quarterback in league history.

Take a look at the highlights:

Video courtesy of the NFL’s official YouTube page

Epilogue:

See, the Eagles had to beat the Patriots. Philly’s first Super Bowl victory would have always been special, but as mentioned, they beat Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. They beat what may be the greatest dynasty in all of sports history.

There were almost too many highlights to remember from this one. There was Alshon Jeffery‘s pirouette in the end zone, the ‘Philly Special’, Zach Ertz‘s dive into the end zone that put Philly ahead for good, Brandon Graham‘s strip-sack, and Tom Brady’s final ‘Hail Mary’ that fell, harmlessly, to the turf as time expired.

Sure, beating the Jacksonville Jaguars would have been fine, but it wouldn’t have had the same zeal. Philly had to beat the Patriots. In one night, the Super Bowl XXXIX loss took on a different meaning. Losing Carson Wentz, and Jason Peters, and Jordan Hicks, and Chris Maragos took on a different meaning.

Drafting Nick Foles, and giving him away and bringing him back took on a different meaning.

Philly’s 41-33 victory gave the Eagles their first Lombardi Trophy in team history and their fourth championship overall. Pigs had flown. Hades had frozen over. The Eagles were the champions of the NFL. No Eagles fan will ever forget it.

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