ESPN’s ‘Philly Special’ Documents The Play That United A City

It sounds like a stand-up comic’s set-up: A journeyman quarterback, an undrafted rookie, and a backup tight end walk on to a football field. The result: the most famous play in Super Bowl history.

This past weekend, fans of the Seattle Seahawks got to celebrate their team’s 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX. But two days before the game, fans of last year’s Super Bowl champion, the Philadelphia Eagles, enjoyed a new ESPN 30 for 30 chronicling the Eagles’ first Super Bowl win, and the gadget play — the “Philly Special” — that defined their own victory over those same Patriots.

Having witnessed the dramatic play in person eight years ago, the drama of that game, and the magical play, remain fresh in my mind. But Philly Special provides new context for die-hard Eagles fans — and fans of comeback, underdog stories.

Working-Class City

In the program’s first segment, longtime sportscaster Sal Paolantonio observed that you can’t understand the city of Philadelphia without understanding the Philadelphia Eagles. While the City of Brotherly Love gets excited for its baseball, basketball, and hockey teams, the Eagles run the town.

Most of the crazy stories about Eagles fans are true: Yes, fans did throw snowballs at Santa Claus many years ago during a game at Franklin Field; yes, its former stadium did have a courtroom to deal with unruly fans; yes, last season’s offensive coordinator got his house egged after a November loss.

It’s hard to defend these actions — “fan” is short for “fanatic” for a reason. But they speak to the passion that Philadelphia has for its sports. It’s a blue-collar city that takes pride in hard work, and isn’t bashful about criticizing those who fans feel aren’t putting forth effort — a habit that starts young.

Root for the Underdogs

Philadelphia is also the city of Rocky fame; that movie featured prominently in Philly Special, as clips compared the 2017-18 Philadelphia Eagles to the character who famously climbed the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Fans love to root for someone long counted out, and after 57 years of not winning an NFL title by the 2017 season, Eagles fans considered their team star-crossed.

Indeed, all of the characters in Philly Special (the program and the play itself) overcame adversity during their careers:

• Coach Doug Pederson, himself a journeyman backup quarterback before moving into coaching, was called unqualified when the Eagles hired him as head coach in 2016.
• Jason Kelce, who snapped the ball to start the Philly Special, served as a walk-on at the University of Cincinnati and was drafted late in the sixth round, not quite “Mr. Irrelevant,” but close.
• Corey Clement, who took the snap from center, wasn’t drafted by an NFL team at all, and had to sign with the Eagles as a free agent.
• Trey Burton also didn’t get drafted by an NFL team, and hung on to a job playing pro football largely because he was willing to work hard on special teams and do anything to pitch in to help his team win.
• Nick Foles, who caught a pass from Burton (a former high school quarterback), was ready to quit football entirely until a stint with the Kansas City Chiefs enabled him to rediscover his love for football. Even then, Foles started in the Super Bowl only because Carson Wentz, the Eagles’ franchise quarterback, had gone down with a season-ending knee injury in November.

Add it up, and these underdogs made history. The pass Foles received from Burton led to a touchdown at a critical juncture of the game — a bold, well-executed play that helped the Eagles win their first Super Bowl.

Jason Kelce’s profanity-laced speech at the team’s victory parade spoke to the way that the team, both individually and collectively, had been counted out time and again. After Wentz’ injury, many Eagles fans who apparently forgot how well Foles had played during his first stint in Philadelphia thought the season was lost. Despite the Eagles finishing with the NFL’s best regular-season record, they were underdogs in each of their three postseason games. The Eagles and their working-class fans embraced the underdog label, with dog masks from Amazon selling out during Philadelphia’s postseason run.

Delicious Ironies

The Philly Special exposed many contradictions in one monumental and dramatic play. Whereas Tom Brady, arguably pro football’s best quarterback, dropped his chance to catch a pass on a trick play earlier in Super Bowl LII, Foles seized his opportunity. Foles admitted to the ESPN crew that the Patriots’ failed gadget play earlier in the game helped prompt him to suggest the Philly Special to Pederson, his coach.

The idea that both Brady and Patriots coach Bill Belichick got outplayed and out-coached in this particular game via the Philly Special made it all the sweeter. Like Rocky Balboa finally topping Apollo Creed, the Eagles defeated a Patriots franchise that some viewed as the second coming of the Death Star.

Add to it the fact that the play helped define the Eagles’ first-ever Super Bowl victory, and the Philly Special quickly became iconic in Philadelphia lore. Paintings, T-shirts, and other merchandise — you name it, and the Philly Special has covered it. One tattoo artist told ESPN that he has inked at least 200 different people with the play’s schematic diagram.

Surprisingly, Philly Special didn’t explore the long history of this particular trick play, and how it ended up in the Eagles’ playbook to begin with. And in analyzing why Foles inadvertently called the play “Philly Philly” during the time-out before the fateful incident, it spent time dissecting a Bud Light commercial — an irrelevant tangent that seems like a crass marketing ploy. Regardless, Philly Special shows how, in an instant, a few people can unite an entire region in celebration over a magical victory.

Philly Special will re-air on the ESPN family of networks, and is available via the ESPN app.