I grew up 'interested in the Eagles,' so I guess you'd call me a fan. But they didn't win, so it's not like everything for me lived and died with the Eagles. I didn't have the passion of a native Philadelphian. When I was growing up, I was interested in the Packers and the Raiders. |
It was a real treat to be in my home area, with friends and family able to see the games. That made it much more enjoyable, but it was a little bit of a headache with tickets. There were always the friends who just thought we got tickets for free. We got two free, and that was it. Usually, I needed eight to 20 each week. Collecting them [from teammates] and sorting them out was tough. Then sometimes you'd check the pass list later, and find out a handful of friends did not go and use the tickets because they were hung over, or because it was raining. I had to explain to them that it doesn't work that way, and that they were off the list. |
It was interesting to see the magnitude of the game [25 years ago], juxtaposed at the time with the release of the hostages from Iran [five days earlier on Jan. 20, 1981]. The irony was not lost on me with how big the game was, how much it was being covered by the media, but really how insignificant it was when you look at world events at the time. And it's just become that much bigger. It's unbelievable. |