With all the challenges in the world it may seem frivolous to open up my weekly D’var Torah with a missive about the Philadelphia Eagles, but, if the Inquirer’s front page headlines are any indication, that is where our community members’ hearts are. Tuesday’s headline was “Philly’s Super Sadness: In a bummed-out city Eagles fans grappled with despair and regret over the big game that got away” and Monday’s was simply: “SHATTERED.”
It paints the picture of, at least temporarily, a heartbroken city.
As a sports fan and (a long-time-ago) athlete, I certainly know the experience of feeling crestfallen after a loss. Even though it is “only a game,” it was a big one! As, essentially, a lifelong Eagles fan, I know how much the Eagles serve, for so many residents of this city—across racial, ethnic, class, and political lines—as a rallying point, as something to follow and root for, as a fun distraction, as a container for hopes and yearnings. Sports, while understandably irrelevant to some, serve for many as a space to place our spirits—to feel them rise and fall alongside our fellow community members, high-fiving strangers after touchdowns, exchanging small talk about the Eagles with family, friends, loved ones, and neighbors. Sports can hone, like Judaism, ties that bind.
They can also serve as a microcosm for our society. Society’s failures and successes are often mirrored in sports. On the issue of representation, for example, on the one hand, Sunday’s Super Bowl was the first time both starting quarterbacks were Black; on the other, even though 58% of NFL players are Black, only three of its 32 head coaches are.
Prior to the Eagles first Super Bowl win in 2018 I think the city’s sentiment could best be described as hopeful but dubious. The city had never won a Super Bowl before, was used to defeat being regularly snapped from the jaws of victory, and had a steady, if unspoken, sense that it just may never happen for us.
Prior to this Super Bowl, having tasted victory, the city seemed to feel that a Super Bowl win was not only possible but inevitable. School delays were put in place, parade routes were planned—the city was just waiting for it to be over so we could celebrate. Of course, as the saying goes, that’s why they play the games. Those are sometimes the hardest losses to bounce back from: the ones you thought were never going to take place.
This team was a deeply admirable one, led by its unflappable, and improbable, star quarterback Jalen Hurts. And so to offer some solace in the wake of this loss, though it may seem silly to compare the experience of being a fan to the Jewish story but I’m going to do it anyway. The Exodus from Egypt, the crossing of the sea, is the moment of hope planted in our spirits: redemption has happened for us; it will happen again. Though there may be periods of distress, its memory provides hope for what is possible.
Tuesday’s Inquirer included a headline that read, “How to help your kid process the Eagles’ Super Bowl loss.” If you have such a kid in your life (or if, ahem, that kid is you), let them take solace in the fact that the 2018 victory shows what is possible. A victory for the city, can, and dare I say, will, happen again.