Philadelphia streets (and Rocky steps) succumb to anarchy after Eagles victory
The city of Philadelphia did everything it could to brace itself. It took precautions to keep its citizens in check in the case of a Philadelphia Eagles victory in Sunday’s NFC championship game. But when that victory came …
Well, there was no stopping all hell from breaking lose.
Below are the best – or worst, or craziest – scenes from the streets of Philly on Sunday night. And be forewarned, there is explicit language.
We’ll begin with three seconds of videographic artistry that sum up the anarchy pretty well:
Is there anything more Philly??? #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/teXHGbW4CE
— Samuel Natalini (@BlueWaffleIron) January 22, 2018
Our shirtless hero in the eagle mask was one of the stars of the night:
Philly being Philly pic.twitter.com/lv6HsKvCH3
— Furkant Alt-mayor (@mmm_kantaloupe) January 22, 2018
But he wasn’t the most viral. That award belongs to the man or woman who chose to drive a vehicle up the Philadelphia Art Museum steps:
OMG pic.twitter.com/gA6E8Ld6x0
— Jon (@jewjon) January 22, 2018
The most infamous video of the night could be that one, or this one, of Eagles fans hurling eggs and beer bottles at what was apparently the Vikings’ team bus:
Eagles fans pelting a Vikings bus with bottles, cans, whatever they can find to throw (la410rod_official/IG) pic.twitter.com/CmOWV5iZA2
— Busted Coverage (@bustedcoverage) January 22, 2018
Or this one, of fans yelling “[expletive] Millie” – Millie is the 99-year-old lifelong Vikings fan who went viral when the team gifted her tickets to the Saints game:
Here are the Eagles fans walking around South Philly taking shots at a 99 yr old grandma pic.twitter.com/j14vBF03oJ
— Busted Coverage (@bustedcoverage) January 22, 2018
But most of the celebrations were good-natured. Here is a very Philly video, from one of the popular spots, near Frankford and Cottman Avenues, of fans dancing to and singing the “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” theme song:
One of the most #PHILLY things I’ve ever been a part of lol #eagles #frankfordandcottman pic.twitter.com/yU2YvYtiMl
— JOSH. (@FUEGOMAYO) January 22, 2018
Most of the action, however, took place on Broad Street, the main downtown street that leads to City Hall.
On Broad, fans were well aware that the city had enlisted employees to grease up lampposts with Crisco. So, naturally, they ascended them anyway, with chants of “[expletive] that grease” for encouragement:
broad street pole grease isnt working #eagles #nfchamps
A post shared by James C (@jcamp616) on Jan 21, 2018 at 7:48pm PST
There was plenty of lamppost-climbing, in fact:
Who are we kidding, obviously the grease doesn't stop eagles fans. pic.twitter.com/GhlNaZcw4j
— Jessi Thorne (@JessiThorne) January 22, 2018
PHILLY WAS DEAD TWEAKIN LMAOOOO#philly #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/Ht0qxEOqS3
— melanin man™ (@Bjthompson13) January 22, 2018
There was also break dancing:
They’re literally doing backflips in the middle of Broad St. pic.twitter.com/ctYj8CYcKT
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) January 22, 2018
Eventually – unfortunately – there was fire:
The fires have started pic.twitter.com/GouNT8bxr4
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) January 22, 2018
There was plenty of statue-climbing, too. Some finds made their way to the Gettysburg statue outside City Hall to lead chants, including many of “[expletive] Tom Brady”:
#Eagles fans yelling "F*** Tom Brady" on Broad Street #birdgang #roadtosuperbowl #Philly pic.twitter.com/FC3NC8AvxT
— MINA SAYWHAT (@MinaSayWhat) January 22, 2018
The chants of Brady continue. #Philly #Eagles #BroadStreet pic.twitter.com/1JYE4EJy1z
— Chloe Elmer (@ChloeElmerPhoto) January 22, 2018
And “Big [expletive] Nick”:
Glad to be in Philly tonight #GoBirds #GoEagles #EaglesNation #Eagles #SuperBowl52 pic.twitter.com/NMGc1Rkefc
— Gaygnst (Gay Angst) (@jfcabbi_lowe) January 22, 2018
And, just for good measure, the “Skol” clap, which Eagles fans have stolen and turned into the “Foles” clap:
Foles Foles Foles pic.twitter.com/OPHTsDJesW
— 3azy Kane (@3azyKane) January 22, 2018
#Foles pic.twitter.com/QPCJaBY3bh
— Dan McQuade (@dhm) January 22, 2018
There were also different forms of pyrotechnics:
Someone’s shooting off fireworks now. #philly pic.twitter.com/lj8I4s5tNH
— Chloe Elmer (@ChloeElmerPhoto) January 22, 2018
I love this city #Philly #Eagles pic.twitter.com/BxghrRvBpO
— Xavier Perez (@Xavier_PerezTU) January 22, 2018
And there were various forms of interactions with moving vehicles. The best is this fan standing up through the sun roof of a car, flapping his arms as if they’re eagle wings:
Gotta love Philly pic.twitter.com/XSllm9sjKT
— Sal Trapani (@SalTrapani25) January 22, 2018
Then there’s this pickup truck, which looks like it’s holding an entire house party in the back:
“Philly x Eagles the city is in a frenzy right now" pic.twitter.com/O6z2WRTUcc
— ♛ (@50KaratDiamond_) January 22, 2018
There’s this man jumping up and down on the front of a truck, while fans stream through cars around him:
The streets of Philadelphia have gone mad. How’s this fella jumping on a truck???!!! #eagles #philly pic.twitter.com/ig9YHHLS2M
— Brad Blanks (@bradblanks) January 22, 2018
You could also use cars to run over what looks like a Rob Gronkowski jersey – though the fan who tweeted it tried to tag Tom Brady (but tagged a different Tom Brady instead):
@tbrady14 you aren’t liked in Philly pic.twitter.com/UY6mIybfIv
— Christian Argentieri (@_arg018) January 22, 2018
Or you could just randomly jump on top of cars:
You could also use a stroller to carry a speaker:
We think there isn’t a baby under that speaker, but then again, it’s Philly, so who knows pic.twitter.com/6iP5y8HyTA
— Laces Out (@LacesOutShow) January 22, 2018
And finally, we have somebody running around with a big traffic cone over his head:
I need to go back to Philly pic.twitter.com/7iuAlWN12o
— mitch cruelman (@rickcruelman) January 22, 2018
Philly!
Now, just think what these same locations will look like if the Eagles knock off the Patriots in two weeks …
More NFL coverage from Yahoo Sports:
• Dan Wetzel: Jaguars explain Brady’s comeback
• Super Bowl: The ghost of Foles vs. the legend of Brady
• 49ers QB Garoppolo cashes in on Patriots’ AFC title
• Ref fuels bogus conspiracy theory with Brady moment
• Meet America’s sports power couple: The Ertz’s