In the ease of victory, Eagles fans enjoy a new reality

Inside Reading Terminal Market, the hungry, hungover lunch crowd donned sparkling, fresh-off-the-racks, Super Bowl LIX champion hats.

At Ray’s Happy Birthday Bar in South Philly, the Eagles chants and bottle clinks stretched well into the afternoon.

At Geno’s Steaks, fans toasted victory with cheesesteaks instead of booze, the thrill of victory served Whiz Wit.

“I felt proud,” said J.T. Byrne, 26, of Blackwood, N.J, who described the joy of watching his first Eagles Super Bowl win with his father. (He had been at college in 2018, when the Birds bested the New England Patriots for the team’s first championship in franchise history.) And he marveled at the bliss he witnessed on Broad Street Sunday night.

“It was insane to see everybody,” he said. “Like nobody had a bad thing to say.”

For Monday was a day of joy. A day to celebrate a new kind of Philadelphia victory. One which penned a new narrative for Philly fandom. A historic win that somehow never seemed in doubt.

“I knew we was gonna blow them out,” said Terron Manuel, 50, who was sitting at a Reading Market Center Court table. He showed his online betting history as proof: Birds by at least 13.

It was a day to swagger and sway in a win that not only avenged the Eagles’ Super Bowl defeat two years ago against the Kansas City Chiefs, but made the stinging memory of it seem so distant. A day not to howl over bad calls and what should have been, what could have been, but to take stock of what actually happened.

Well, almost. This is still Philadelphia.

“That first interference against A.J. Brown was…,” said Caite Collins, who wrapped up her game analysis with an unprintable phrase for bovine manure and a swig of Twisted Tea. Collins was enjoying her day after celebration at Ray’s but had bartended her regular shift at O’Neals Pub off South Street during the game.

Besides that lousy call, there wasn’t any hint of the deepest doom and gloom that has so often despairs Philly sports fans, even in victory.

“The beer started spraying at half-time,” she said.

This was no victory borne out of cheap luck or late game brilliance. This was pure dominance. Total decimation. A shaming. The Chiefs, riding high on two consecutive championships, had not been truly tested this season. Then, future Hall of Fame quarterback Patrick Mahomes was rudely reintroduced to the Eagles defensive line Sunday.

Take that Swifties, said Jackie McClellan, 38, enjoying her Geno’s.

“It was nice to see the Kelce brother go down and all those Taylor Swift fans get disappointed,” she smiled.

The unlikely South Philly Chiefs stronghold, Big Charlie’s Saloon, had been shuttered to the public Sunday night, its stools reserved for only a few regulars. Just like two years ago, the corner bar, which flies its red and yellow at 11th and McKean, had thought it judicious to limit their normally overflowing game day watch parties to only a select few. A police Jeep had been parked outside the bar for the entirety of the game.

On Monday, they were shuttered again. Though voices could be heard behind the dreary din of the darkened door.

“It’s The Inquirer,” someone inside said. “What do you want me to tell ‘em?”

“Don’t tell them nothin,’” another voice snapped.

After a few more knocks, a mourning Chiefs fans emerged from a side door. He was all business in defeat.

“We don’t have nothing to say,” he said. “We’re having a private affair. We congratulated the Eagles.”

Then, he went back inside, locking the door.

Word of the mournful scene brought laughter to the midday customers at nearby Mike & Matt’s Italian Market.

“I love it they’re having a visitation at the Chiefs bar,” said Mike Silvano, who runs the deli with his brother Matt. “They’re all over there paying their respects.”

At the neighborhood deli, the victory had never seemed in doubt either. Instead of ruminating on the dreaded “Philly Jinx,” like they did after the 2023 loss, they talked about how confident customers had strolled in all day Sunday. All of them draped in green, blowing their whistles and guaranteeing victory.

“Like a formality,” Silvano said.

Across the city Monday, people talked about how needed the jubilation felt.

For Chanel Mitchell, the victory felt almost as long overdue as her need for new Eagles merch.

Mitchell had watched the game at Rivers Casino, unbelieving her eyes as the Eagles racked up score after score.

To celebrate, Mitchell and her friend Kisha woke up early Monday to score merch at the Eagles Team Store, down at the Linc.

“What’s important is that we represent the bird gang,” Mitchell said

“We needed something like that,” said Jackie Harris, who celebrated the win from Germantown Sunday night

While thousands crammed onto Broad Street to climb polls, chug and chant, and set a few things on fire, Leroy from West Philly, who declined to give his last name, celebrated with just one other person. He watched the game with his ailing father, 90, in the hospital. They always watch the Eagles games together. And they weren’t going to miss this one.

“It felt real good,” said Leroy. “The whole city is feeling good right now.”