A Friday, A Valentine’s Celebratory Ride Past Philly’s Park of Love Couldn’t Have Been More Fitting.
Just moments after the final of the Eagles methodical and total evisceration of the Kansas City Chiefs 40–22 in Super Bowl LIX — Jalen Hurts sat quietly in the Eagles locker room staring at a sparkling Lombardi Trophy signifying Philadelphia’s World Championship — and was awestruck at his reflection in that sterling silver. It was at that moment that the fifth year Eagles quarterback would be moved by the significance of what both he and this team had accomplished.
One week later during a Valentine’s Day Parade on Broad Street providing Jalen Hurts and other Eagles players the opportunity to share that shiny silver trophy with the finest football fans in America — who had traveled from Philadelphia to Brazil to Bourbon Street to see their team through blistering heat, bone chilling cold, driving rain, and squawls of snow — it was Philly’s turn to honor the finest season in Eagles history and the opportunity for the team to in-turn honor the support that helped them win it.
Rain, sleet, snow — Eagles train to go.
For Hurts — the Lombardi Trophy wasn’t simply validation of an incredible championship run that seemed to see the Eagles get better with every round of the NFL playoffs. It made both his play as Eagles franchise quarterback and the team built around him as a center piece a realization. From a city that was surprised when he was drafted to supplanting an existing franchise quarterback, a crushing defeat in Super Bowl LXI, a monumental collapse that ended in the NFC Wild Card Round last season; Jalen Hurts never lost his confidence as well as his resolve. Each day he looked at the screensaver on his phone — a portrait of his dejection walking through an ocean of red confetti after losing the Super Bowl LVII — utilizing it as motivation to return to sports’ biggest championship stage.
On Friday — as the peak of the celebration reached Eakins Oval and Love Park — television cameras caught a glimpse of a new statue that had been erected next to the replica of Robert Indiana’s 1970 Love Statue and bore a striking resemblance to the logo on Jalen Hurts’ hoodie that he proudly dawned on top of one of parade buses heading to the Art Museum steps.
Love Park would become famous during the 1980s for recreational skateboarding. The park was one of the top skateboarding locations in the US beginning in the 1990s. In 2001 and 2002 — Philadelphia both banned skateboarding but was also a city who played host to the X-Games. In 2002–the Park was featured in the video game Tony Hawk. The ban would be temporarily lifted in 2016. During that same year and an overhaul of the park — all of the iconic environments for skateboarding were demolished.
It’s a fitting place to honor the pinnacle of sport — from the celebration of the best professional football team ever in Philadelphia to the serene backdrop of one of the top destinations for skateboarding on the East Coast in a variety of weather.
Rain, sleet, snow — Philly’s trained to go!
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