The Eagles May Not Have Intimidated the Saints, but Some Philly Fans Sure Got the Job Done

Joggers run down the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in view of cutouts of Philadelphia Eagles football players Jason Peters, left, and DeMeco Ryans, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2013, in Philadelphia. (Image source: AP/Matt Rourke)

In light of their error-plagued playoff loss to the New Orleans Saints on Saturday, the Philadelphia Eagles may want to invite some of their fans to training camp next summer.

Because if intimidation remains a major intangible in pro football, the Eagles' faithful just proved it works — albeit against Saints fans visiting from the Big Easy.

Untold numbers of humans have done their jogs up the legion of steps in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, a la "Rocky," since the mid-1970s. It's just one of the things you do when you visit town, etc.

But it seems Saints fans were planning to stage their own "Rocky" run up the steps before the big game Saturday — in full team regalia. The suggestion came from NOLA.com and the Times-Picayune newspaper, who labeled it the Who Dat “Rocky” Run.

Given Philly fans are given to a certain amount of passion, as you might imagine when they caught wind of the impending stunt, some were none too pleased.

“Everyone fill up a pillowcase with doorknobs and lets go!” wrote “Sidewinder7″ on Philly.com.

And...

Image source: Twitter via WCAU-TV

Image source: Twitter via WCAU-TV

When organizers got wind of a potential threat to their little fun run, they had second thoughts. Michael DeMocker from the Times-Picayune soon announced the event was a no-go:

Image source: Twitter via PhillyMag.com

Preceding the game, Philadelphia Police announced officers would be going undercover as Saints fans during the game to prevent any violent incidents.

Philadelphia fans have a history of mistreating fans of opposing teams at games, although the problem isn't unique to the town.

Still, the now-defunct Veterans Stadium employed an “Eagles Court” during games in which a Philadelphia Municipal Court judge presided over unruly fans who had been arrested during games, WCAU-TV in Philadelphia reported.

Note: It was indeed neighborly of the Times-Picayune to post video of Sylvester Stallone's run up the steps, but it's from "Rocky II"; the out-of-towners can be forgiven for not showing the more inspiring clip from the first movie, below:

(H/T: Philadelphia Magazine)

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