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Philly Fans, Some Unruly, Celebrate Their Eagles Win

A man climbs a traffic pole as Philadelphia Eagles fans celebrate victory in Super Bowl LII against the New England Patriots Sunday evening.
Eduardo Munoz Alvarez
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A man climbs a traffic pole as Philadelphia Eagles fans celebrate victory in Super Bowl LII against the New England Patriots Sunday evening.

Updated 12:40 p.m. ET

Third time's the charm. The Philadelphia Eagles beat the New England Patriots, 41 to 33, and claimed its first-ever Super Bowl title in Super Bowl LII on Sunday. The Birds had two other Super Bowl appearances to their names, in 1981, and 2005, when the Patriots beat them 24 - 21.

Backup quarterback Nick Foles led a 75-yard drive to the winning touchdown in the last three minutes of the game. A last-minute drive by the Patriots failed against the Eagles defense line, and the Eagles won 41 - 33.

"We've played this game since we were little kids, we dreamed about this moment," said Foles, named the game's MVP.

"Our fans have been waiting a long time for this," said Eagles Coach Doug Pederson. "I just can't wait to get back there and celebrate with our fans."

And indeed, the celebrations in Philadelphia had already started.

Philadelphia's Eagles fans, who have long been called some of the most passionate NFL fans out there, celebrated their team's long-awaited win in the streets. Reports Dana DiFilippo from Philadelphia's member station WHYY:

"Fans stood atop the awning of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel near City Hall and leapt off into the crowd below. The weight of fans caused it to collapse onto the sidewalk below. Near Temple University, firefighters raced to douse a blaze in the street. And in too many places to track, unruly fans tore down street signs, smashed store windows and looted a South Philly gas station. ... Police made at least one arrest, after a fan scaled a street pole and punched out a light. When the Phillies won the World Series in 2008, celebrations got so intense that police arrested 76 people for disorderly conduct, vandalism, arson, and other offenses.

The celebrations are far from over: Fans will get to revel once more when the Eagles carry the Lombardi trophy down the Philadelphia streets in an official parade, to be held Thursday at 11:00 a.m. ET.

This post will be updated.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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