Students opted to miss classes on Monday, Feb. 5, to witness the historic Super Bowl game between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles, in the players’ home region. Several students are also planning on missing classes on Thursday, Feb. 8, to watch the Eagles’ Super Bowl parade in Philadelphia.

The Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl for the first time on Sunday, Feb. 4, by beating the New England Patriots 41-33. Several Dickinson students, especially native Philadelphia residents, opted to miss classes to be able to watch the game in their home city.

Bakary Samasa ’19, one of those who missed a Monday morning class, “went home to Philly to catch the game with my friends.”  The decision to go was “really last minute” because he had a previous commitment that had been scheduled for right before the game, but “that ended up not happening.”  In response to missing a class, Samasa described being in Philadelphia for the Eagles’ win as a “once in a lifetime event, so I’m not too down about it.”

Carolyn Goode ’18 echoed Samasa’s statements. “[I] honestly believed there was no other way I could watch it than being with my family in my city.”  As an Eagles’ fan, “When they won I was so overcome with emotion that I just lost it! It’s hard to describe how good this is.” Goode didn’t miss any classes but had described her early morning return as “So worth it.”

Other students, native to New England, also elected to watch the game at home. Sydney Dumont ’21 “went home [to MA] this past weekend for a lot of reasons. I am a wicked huge Patriots fan, and also it was my birthday yesterday [Monday]! I have a twin brother who goes to college in state at UMass Lowell, so it was our first birthday apart, which was weird. But my parents surprised me with plane tickets home for the weekend so I could spend time with him at UMass and watch the Super Bowl in New England and out of Eagles country!” Dumont “had to wake up at 3 a.m. after the Super Bowl to fly home and got back to campus in time for my biology lab, but missed some classes in the morning.”

Jacob Reisz’s ’19 “heart was broken” when he was in the third grade and his team, the Eagles, lost their bid for the Vince Lombardi Trophy in 2004. So, this year, he said, “Of course I took the risk of missing class.”  Reisz “went to a bar right off Broad Street to watch the game because I wasn’t going to pass up the chance of witnessing NFL history and getting the opportunity to celebrate it in Philly fashion.”

In addition to missing class on Monday, students are also planning to travel to Philadelphia on Thursday, Feb. 8, to see the Eagles’ Super Bowl Parade.

Maureen Moroz ’19 watched the game in Tir Na Nog, a bar in the center of Philadelphia with friends from both Dickinson and her hometown.  Moroz said it was “the ideal crowd of die-hard fans and an even more ideal location for the post game riots.”

“I would be devastated if I wasn’t in Philly for the franchise’s first Super Bowl Title,” said Moroz.  “I only missed one [class] on Monday morning, but I’m missing three again for the Parade on Thursday.” She says that missing so many classes is well worth the loss because “I’ve waited 21 years for a Super Bowl, my parents waited more than 50, and plenty of others have waited even longer. This just doesn’t happen. I would never forgive myself if I didn’t seize the opportunity to make it home for arguably the most important event to the city of Philadelphia since the Declaration of Independence.”

Adam Moses ’18 said travelled to Philadelphia with his housemates, but he did not miss any of his Monday classes.

“As a long-time Eagles fan… [it] was phenomenal—a once in a lifetime opportunity to be with friends in Philly as they won their first Super Bowl.”  He and his housemates, William Dougherty’18, Matt Pasquali ’18, Kyle Fitch ’18, Jean-Daniel Goblet ’18 and Nathan Udell ’18 “were out for a while and did not get to bed until the wee hours of the morning,” but nevertheless “woke up at 5:30 a.m. to drive back for 9:00 a.m. class[es].”

Dougherty was happy that “none of us [he and his housemates] missed a single class” despite their late-night festivities.

Ellis Kimmel ’20 described his experience in Philadelphia as the “Greatest day of my life.”

He said that his mom had “won a game day catering package so we had people over before the game, then I watched that game itself with a few friends at Temple University in North Philly. The house is right on Broad street, which was the Main Street people flooded into after the game. Everyone was nervous but confident at the same time. Every touchdown we would run from room to room hugging people and cheering.”

Kimmel “Hardly remember[s] any of the commercials,” but clearly recalls “When the pats got the touchdown that put them one point ahead [and] everyone just sat there silently, expecting that to be the end of the story. But when Brady fumbled the ball, people lost it. I actually started to cry. On the last play when the clock ran out I was speechless, I just ran out of the door screaming. Broad street was empty at first and I was worried the play was called back, but eventually people came flooding from every direction.”

“We were all just sprinting towards city hall,” said Kimmel. “A couple cars were brave enough to drive down Broad, but they were full of people hanging out the window high-fiving the people on the streets. An ambulance drove by us with its alarm blaring but they weren’t rushing to an emergency, just celebrating. People kept trying to fiat pound the cops and eventually they gave in and joined in on the fun. It was the greatest feeling ever. Eventually I made my way home, got almost 3 hours of sleep, then drove back with a friend in time for my first class.”