PHILADELPHIA (AP) — On this Feb. 14, love Hurts.
At least in Philadelphia, where swooning Eagles fans are ready to celebrate the Super Bowl champions and MVP quarterback Jalen Hurts across the City of Brotherly Love.
Fans camped out along the team’s parade route overnight, huddling under blankets and inside tents early Friday to secure prime spots near the Philadelphia Museum of Art where the Eagles will take the stage on the “ Rocky ” steps.
Some fans showed up with grocery carts stocked with food and booze. One group roasted a pig with the number “15” carved into the side — a final shot at Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
Many hoped to get a glimpse of record-setting running back Saquon Barkley or Cooper DeJean, the rookie defensive back who ran an interception into the end zone on his 22nd birthday.
The Eagles, though underdogs, dominated the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, shutting them out in the first half before finishing with a 40-22 victory.
Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, who made an amusing gaffe when she mangled the spelling of the “Eagles” as she led a chant last month, corrected herself Tuesday by calling them the “N-F-L-C-H-A-M-P-I-O-N-S.”
She and other city leaders implored the team’s, ahem, exuberant fans to stay safe and keep the mood festive for the Valentine’s Day dinner crowd.
“Do not climb any light poles,” the mayor said. “In the midst of all this beauty, all of the sacrifices this team has made to meet this moment, we don’t want it to all go by the wayside.”
She spoke after a college student died falling from a street pole after the Eagles' won the NFC championship game last month and after last year's Super Bowl celebration in Kansas City was marred by gunfire.
There was a large police presence along the parade route, which stretches from South Philadelphia where the Eagles play all the way to downtown's City Hall and then onto the art museum.
Dump trucks and heavy equipment blocked many of the side streets along the route. City schools closed for the parade, along with city courts and other agencies.
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Associated Press journalists Matt Rourke in Philadelphia and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.
