Eagles fans took over Tampa just to see THAT performance

So many Eagles fans traveled all the way to Tampa, it was practically an Eagles home game. True 50/50 split of Eagles and Bucs fans. Hurricane Helene didn’t deter Eagles fans, although some experienced serious travel complications. Meanwhile, the Birds fans were taking over Tampa, doing everything they could to buoy the team, and the Eagles were playing terribly. They owe the fans an apology after Sunday’s brutal defeat:

@noshortsusa

Eagles in Tampa. #philly #tampa (All people in this video are actors and professional stunt people. This is all for entertainment purposes)

♬ Original sound – No shorts

Most fans I spoke to said their travel plans were barely disrupted by the hurricane. Their flights were either before or after the incident, or they did not live in Philly and were a reasonable drive from Tampa. However, there were a few interesting travel stories I heard:

• “We were rerouted to Orlando and were stuck there for two days.”
• “It took us 48 hours to get here, our plane was canceled”
• “Originally I was supposed to fly straight to Tampa, then rerouted to Nashville, then rerouted to Charlotte, sat in Charlotte all day, finally got a flight to Sarasota and then my friends picked me up there.”

Aside from the travel complications, I was also blown away by how many Eagles fans there were nationwide. Fans came from Colorado, North Carolina, Florida and even outside the US from Canada. There were two different fan groups I met from Canada. I asked them how they became Eagles fans and they told me they thought we were a cool team and a fun fan base. I almost fell to my knees in the parking lot. I felt so honored that someone took a look at us Philly fans and wanted to be a part of it. It’s not like Canada has an NFL team anyway, so why not?

Another problem I had with this Tampa trip was how pretty the stadium was. It’s surrounded by palm trees and sand and has a really cool beach vibe. That kind of upset me as a fan, seeing a stadium environment that actually incorporates nature. I still like our stadium complex better because I hate how random and spread out things are in Tampa. In Philly, everything is in an area around the stadiums, so it feels more communal. But a few palm trees on the Linc couldn’t hurt.

Back to the Eagles – they completely embarrassed our fan base on Sunday. No AJ Brown, no Devonta Smith, certainly the odds weren’t entirely in our favor. But the Eagles team seemed completely drained by the end of the first quarter. I feel so sorry for all those other fans who traveled to Tampa and paid good money for this game only to have the Birds make a business decision and do half-assed things after they were down 21-0. There were small signs of a comeback, but most of that team was eliminated so they couldn’t make it.