For Philadelphia, Sunday Night was a Moment of Destiny a Lifetime in the Making

If you were in Philly to watch the Super Bowl this past Sunday, you know it poured rain. It rained all day, it was on and off and sometimes heavy. I would know because I sat outside in it during halftime. My mind and my nerves wouldn’t let me sit there during a halftime show and pretend that was anything of significant importance, knowing what laid ahead on the other side of the show. Sorry JT, as a former *NSYNC fan, I’m sure you killed it. As I sat there, now dry as the game hit the 4th quarter and crunch time had arrived, we noticed the rain had finally cleared. It cleared just in time for the game to end and for everyone to hit the streets in celebration in a dry fashion. It had worked out perfectly, because this season, everything has aligned perfectly. It was just destiny, the ways things were meant to be.

Winning Super Bowl LII on Sunday night in thrilling fashion, which thwarted the continuance of the Patriots dynasty, was a moment of a lifetime in the making. It justified every heartbreaking, crushing defeat that left us seriously wondering if that moment of destiny would ever arrive. But it did. It arrived in the most perfect way possible to the point Hollywood may consider the plot of our story too unrealistic to be told. An underdog, never winning before, against the hated Goliath. A written off quarterback thrown into the spotlight when the star is devastatingly injured. Beating the Goliath to send the constantly belittled fan base into pandemonium. A story almost too good to be true, I’m sure 30 for 30 is licking its chops.

Sunday nights victory was both a lifetime and a season in the making. It was almost as if we accumulated so many karma points by losing in tragic fashion year after year, frustration after frustration, that we could cash them in like arcade tickets to whatever God watches over sports for a grand prize. We took every defeat and transformed  it into our moment of glory. The moment of destiny didn’t start on Sunday, it was a season sprinkled full of them. When that 61 yard field goal by Jake Elliot went through the uprights, the feeling of destiny snowballed, losing steam when our beloved superstar was lost but turning into an avalanche when the ball went through Julio Jones hands. Sometimes, that 61 yard field goal falls short. Sometimes, Wentz pops right back up and who knows how this story ends. Sometimes Julio comes down with the ball. Not this year. This time was different and everyone in this glory-starving city could feel it in their spirit. We gave our hearts to the Philadelphia Eagles one last time and hoped they wouldn’t break it again like they always have and this time, the Eagles returned it in one piece, mending it forever.

The “culture beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard” mantra might be one of the worst in sports. But, if you’ve watched sports, especially football long enough, you know sometimes it takes more than just talent to be a champion. Sometimes it’s just your time. Finally Philadelphia, our time, has come.

By Aidan Powers | February 7, 2018