MINNEAPOLIS — It is Folesadelphia today, and tomorrow, and for a long, long time.
The home of cheesesteaks, Rocky and Joe Frazier waited 58 years for this night.
Fifty-eight years after Norm Van Brocklin led their Eagles to what had been their most recent NFL championship, a backup quarterback named Nick Foles stared down Tom Brady and Bill Belichick and fired a green-and-gray slingshot and hit Goliath right between the eyes.
It ended Eagles 41, Patriots 33, ended with Brady trying a Hail Mary from midfield for Rob Gronkowski in the end zone. It ended with Philly prayers answered.
It ended with Foles kissing his 8-month-old daughter, Lily, in his arms and kissing his wife Tori and thanking God and saying: “To be in this moment is something you dream about as a kid. To be in this moment is something you dream about as a kid. I am proud to be a Philadelphia Eagle.”
PHILLY. PHINALLY.
It’s a torrid love affair now between a humble Texas kid who never wanted to leave Philadelphia and nearly retired after he was traded and cherished the day he was welcomed back, even if he was now watching Carson Wentz become the talk of the town.
Then Wentz was suddenly gone, and Philadelphia asked St. Nick to be its long lost savior and make history.
And now only Foles (28-for-43, 373 yards) and Eli Manning have ruined Evil Emperors Brady (25-for-39, 465 yards, 3 TDs) and Belichick on Super Sunday.
Fly, Eagles, fly.
The Rocky statue shed tears of joy when it ended.
Cry, Rocky, cry.
Foles, utterly unfazed by the magnitude of the moment, went toe-to-toe, arm-to-arm, in an epic shootout against Brady.
Eyeball-to-eyeball with the G.O.A.T. in arguably the G.O.A.T. of Super Bowls.
Threw three touchdown passes and caught another and earned MVP.
“I felt calm. I think the big thing that helped me was knowing that I didn’t have to be Superman,” Foles said.
Except he was.
“I wasn’t worried about the scoreboard. I wasn’t worried about the time. I was just playing ball,” Foles said.
He and head coach Doug Pederson fed off each other’s fearlessness.
“Whatever Doug called, I was just going to go out there and rip it,” Foles said.
As hearts raced and throats lumped and America stood mesmerized towards the end, it was Eagles 32, Patriots 26, and of course Brady yawned.
Hit Danny Amendola for 30 yards and Gronk against Ronald Darby with a 4-yard touchdown pass. Patriots 33, Eagles 32 with 9:22 left and Pederson was wishing he hadn’t attempted a failed two-point conversion in the second quarter.
Pederson, fourth-and-1 at his 45, went for it. Of course he did. And Foles hit Ertz for 2 yards. Then Nelson Agholor for 10. Then Agholor again for 18. Then Agholor again for 11.
Then Ertz — ruled a runner before the ball hit the ground as he hurtled into the end zone — in an 11-yard TD against a stumbling Devin McCourty. Eagles 38, Patriots 33 after the failed two-point conversion.
So here was Brady, 2:21 and one timeout left, trailing 38-33, 75 yards from the Lombardi Trophy. And he was strip-sacked by Brandon Graham. Derek Barnett recovered the fumble.
Soon it was Eagles 41, Patriots 33.
Now there stood Brady, 58 seconds and no timeouts left, 91 yards from the Lombardi Trophy.
Hail no!
It had been a wild-and-crazy first half, a wide-open Brady dropping a pass from Amendola, who had taken a pitch from James White, three plays after Malcolm Jenkins had knocked Brandin Cooks out with a head injury, Keystone Cops kicking games, and here was Pederson, fourth-and-goal at the 1, ahead 15-12, being the riverboat gambler again:
A trick play for the ages that maybe only Spygate could have prevented.
A direct snap to Corey Clement.
A pitch to Trey Burton.
A 1-yard TD pass to … Nick Foles … NICK FOLES! … leaking out wide open on the right side.
“We hit it at the right time,” Foles said.
PHILLY. PHINALLY.
FOLESADELPHIA.