Almost each season, Philadelphia Eagles fans come into the year with high expectations for their beloved football team. After a mediocre 8-8 season in 2011, the Philadelphia Eagles were ready to come back strong in 2012, and make a Super Bowl run. Through four games, it looked as though they were well on their way. Then it all went wrong.
Five weeks later, the Eagles stand at 3-5, with four of their 5 starters on the offensive line out with injury, their much maligned quarterback Michael Vick out with a concussion, and head coach Andy Reid on his way out of Philadelphia. It is safe to say that this season has been a disaster thus far and the Eagles fan base is livid.
Philadelphia sports fans have often been criticized for being too hard on their teams. This past year I heard many fans of other NFL franchises scolding me for wanting Andy Reid and Michael Vick gone. They argued that Reid is still one of the league's best coaches and reminding me of Vick's epic comeback versus the Giants two years ago. "How would replacing those two help your franchise at all?"
What most other fan bases don't understand is the immense desire to win in Philadelphia. Not just win division titles or a few playoff games, but win the Super Bowl. Without a Super Bowl, each season goes by as a failure. Looking solely at division opponents, the Cowboys have won five Super Bowls, the Giants four, and the Redskins have won three. In the forty-four years that the Super Bowl has been in existence the Philadelphia Eagles have won zero.
Eagle’s fans have nothing to hang their hat on. Every one of their division rivals has at least three titles, yet the Eagles don't have a single victory in the final game of the playoffs. In a city that has only won a single championship since 1982, it is incredible that these fans keep coming back year after year. And it is not because they always feel great loyalty to this organization that they continue to pack the stadiums; it is their loyalty to their city. These fans love being from Philadelphia and will support their city no matter what.
The worst thing about these Eagles teams is that they are not perianal losers. This is not the Detroit Lions, who have not won a playoff game since 1991. In fourteen years under Andy Reid the Eagles have a winning percentage of .611 and are averaging just fewer than 10 wins a season in that time. They have won seven NFC East titles and gone to five NFC Championship games. The most painful part about the Eagles is that nearly every season they give their fans hope that they can win a title, and every season since 1967those fans have ended their season broken hearted.
So the reason that the Eagles fan base is calling for Andy Reid and Michael Vick to be gone is not because they are not both talented at what they do. It is clear that both, especially Reid, have had great success in the NFL and probably will after they leave Philadelphia as well. The reason that they both must be gone is because they are not going to bring the Lombardi Trophy to Philadelphia and after forty-four years without a Super Bowl, their ties must be cut. This is one of the most loyal fan bases in sports and it is time to someone in who is up to the challenge to reward these fans.
