Fly, Eagles Fly

Philadelphia sports fans are known for being, uh, enthusiastic about their favorite teams.

Mike, one half of this week’s Love Letter couple, is no exception. Back in 1981, he was a 20-something fan enjoying watching his Eagles demolish the New Orleans Saints in their home stadium.

In an effort to get on TV to say hi to his family back home, he bribed an usher to let him into the field level seats so he could get the attention of the CBS cameras.

Cheering for the road team didn’t win him any fans in the stadium, and soon he was being pelted with beers and hot dogs by angry New Orleans fans.

Jill, a fan sitting nearby, was so annoyed by him that she went home and told her roommates about the “asshole” Philadelphia fan who she encountered at the stadium.

Little did she know that they’d soon be a couple with 40 years of marriage ahead of them.

Here’s their story.

How’d you two meet?

Jill: We were living in Louisiana. Mike is from Philadelphia. We were at an Eagles-Saints game in the Superdome. He was there with a friend in the nosebleeds and I was there with someone else at the 50 yard line. 

Mike: It was 1981. She was there with what’s called a beau, which if you’re not familiar is a wealthy young southern man. 

Late in the game, the Eagles were up 31-3. I paid the usher $10 to get me down on the sidelines, which he did. There were probably five minutes left in the game, and I had brought three signs. I wanted to try to get on TV, back then the CBS camera would roll up and down the sidelines. So I was leaning over the railing with my signs saying “Hey, mom! Hey, Philadelphia! Let’s go Eagles!”

And I did get on TV. But when I turned around, I got hit by a beer! I started chanting “Let’s go Eagles,” at which point I was getting pelted with everything. People were raining things down, Coke, hot dogs, beers. And the more they did it, the louder I got. 

Fast forward and the game is over. My friend and I lived two hours southwest of New Orleans, basically in the bayou. He and I were teachers, I taught sixth grade and he taught kindergarten. He knew these women who were having a “Sunday night lesson plan party,” which was common back in the day, where the young teachers would get together and write our lessons plans as we watch 60 Minutes or something. 

Jill, who was at the game with her beau, had gotten to her house and was telling her roommates that the game sucked, that New Orleans got blown out and the Eagles won, and there was this asshole from Philadelphia there. Just as she was talking about that we knocked on the door, and when the door opened she said “That’s the asshole.” 

Jill: It was not love at first sight. I may have participated in the pelting, I can’t really remember. But yeah, I used that exact word. He was the a-hole from the game!

What happened next? Did you talk at the party? 

Jill: Not that night. There were a lot of people there and he wasn’t trying to impress me at that point.

Mike: We didn’t talk for at least two more weeks. We had common friends. She worked with my roommate, I worked with a couple of her friends and roommates. It wasn’t until two weeks later we both got volunteered to judge a Halloween contest. And we sat back to back, didn’t talk to each other. But all of us went back to a bar afterwards and asked her to dance. 

And she said, in a very calm voice, “I would need six beers” to dance with you. So I bought her six beers. 

What did you think of that? 

Jill: He’s charming! I didn’t not like him, we just hadn’t really had a good first impression. But we were pretty much together from then on. 

What did you do for your first date? 

Jill: I love Rod Stewart. He got tickets to Rod Stewart and asked me to a concert. That was our official first date!

Mike: I think I remember sticking a french fry in her ear at McDonald’s. 

Jill: It was a very fun first date!

What role has football played in your lives since? 

Mike: Last year we went to the Eagles-Saints game when they came here. We’re both diehard Eagles fans now. 

Jill: We moved back to Philly a few later, so I have officially become an Eagles fan.

🤔We want to hear from you!

📊Last Week We Asked…

• How long should you date before introducing your partner to your parents?

  • 52% said “I’ll only let them meet my parents if I know we’re serious”

  • 37% said “Give it a few months, then introduce them”

  • 11% said “If we’re dating, they should meet right away”

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Interviewed and transcribed by Nicolas Vega. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.