There may not be any crying in baseball but that old adage sure as heck does not apply to football. Or more specifically, to Eagles fans. Since about 10:30 p.m. Sunday, the floodgates have been released in the Delaware Valley and tears have been flowing like a river.
Grown men in particular, not exactly prone to displaying their emotions or expressing their feelings, are suddenly Dick Vermeil at a wedding. That's what 57 years for some and a lifetime for others will do to you.
We have three examples for you. All quite touching in their own way and for their own reasons. Each of one tying back to family.
Ray Didinger defines the words "objective journalist." He's as respected for his unbiased analysis as any person in his field. And even though he grew up a die-hard Eagles fan who spent his summer vacations in Hershey at Eagles training camp, even though he attended the 1960 NFL Championship Game with his father and grandfather at Franklin Field, once Ray became a journalist, he put his fandom aside.
But even an Eagles Super Bowl win can even get to the most grizzled, stoic, down-the-middle veteran. Here's Ray on our Eagles Postgame Live set after Super Bowl LII.
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Next up, we have NBC Sports Philadelphia host Danny Pommells. This was from our Mission LII Pregame coverage before the Birds beat the Patriots later that evening. Here's Danny discussing who he'd like to see the Eagles win for and his father.
Lastly, we step away from the analysts and hosts to bring you the raw emotion of a player who has has been overlooked and underappreciated since coming out of high school: Eagles center Jason Kelce.
These clips are examples of why sports matter. It's about the bonds and relationships that are formed between father and son, mother and daughter, siblings and friends. That was raw emotion that few other experiences can bring about. Sunday night may have been part one; the sequel will be Thursday's parade to end all parades.
Get your tissues ready.
