The Eagles and the Memories of Football Past

As the Eagles head for their fourth Super Bowl, the locals in Philly are proud, excited and looking forward to the battle against the Chiefs.

For me, its also a good time to think back again on the game as it was, when I was a boy. 

The memories came back to me once before, when I watched the last few scenes of the movie Silver Linings Playbook, which was filmed a a dozen years ago in Delaware County and Philadelphia. 

The view of the lobby of the old Ben Franklin Hotel brought back the memories. It was 1961, a year after the Eagles’ championship season. I was 13, and old enough to accompany my Uncle Pete to watch the Eagles play at Franklin Field.

Driving up from Wilmington, we made our first stop at that old hotel, having no trouble parking on Chestnut Street. We had breakfast at the hotel and then sat in the lobby and read the Sunday Bulletin until it was time to head to the game. That lobby floor, with its distinctive checkerboard pattern, was what struck me so vividly when the movie captured it with an aerial view. I remembered it clearly.

We then drove to Franklin Field, arriving a few hours before game time, parked across the street from the stadium (again, not a problem), and waited on the sidewalk by the west entrance as the Eagles began to show up, either walking or getting out of taxis. They all wore suits, and they all signed autographs and chatted with the small crowd assembled there on the sidewalk. Tom Brookshire, Pete Retzlaff, Tommy McDonald, Don “The Blade” Burroughs – to name but a few.

It was an entirely different experience from an NFL game today. Then, most of the seats were sold on game day, and the weather had much to do with attendance. Today, of course, games are sold on a season-ticket basis, and the waiting list for those tickets extends several years. On game days, players are a protected group, with none of those pregame chats and autograph signings.

My uncle did have season tickets, and we sat in the top row of the east end of the stadium, Franklin Field. The crowd always seemed congenial. I don’t recall bad language or drunken behavior. I’m sure there was some, but I don’t remember seeing it.

Time has passed. I acquired my own season tickets in 1975. Newly married, my wife would go with me to a few games, and I would take friends to others. As the children were born and grew older, they started to take turns as my game companions. It was always a great day, win or lose. Some seasons were frustrating; others were exhilarating.

Things have changed for me, of course. My son now has those tickets but I only attend one or two games each year with him. There is too much to deal with – clogged traffic or jammed subway cars, long lines for security checks, way too much drinking and foul language, nonstop high-decibel loudspeakers, fights breaking out inside and outside the stadium, and games scheduled for the benefit of TV ratings rather than for the fans in the stands. Who wants to attend a December or January game at 8:30 at night in the frozen confines of Lincoln Financial Field? I certainly don’t.

But others do, and the Eagles have that waiting list, so I assume all is reasonably well for them. But then I see games being played on television in a number of other NFL cities and notice many empty seats. Is it possible that the NFL is finally arriving at a tipping point, and that the large-screen HD television is looking better than the actual stadium experience?

Time will tell. For now, it has been pleasant to think back to that lobby at the Ben Franklin Hotel, getting autographs from my football heroes – and enjoying a really nice day with my Uncle Pete.