Philadelphia turns green on Valentine’s Day to celebrate Super Bowl champions

Philadelphia was awash in green on Valentine’s Day to celebrate its Super Bowl champions.

Swooning fans screamed and cheered Friday as MVP quarterback Jalen Hurts and Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie took turns hoisting the Vince Lombardi Trophy at the start of the team’s victory parade through the City of Brotherly Love.

Many fans camped out along the team’s parade route overnight, huddling under blankets and inside tents to secure prime spots near the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where the Eagles will take the stage on the “ Rocky ” steps.

Others decked out in Eagles jerseys climbed trees, perched themselves atop ladders and clung to a statue of Benjamin Franklin near City Hall to get a glimpse of record-setting running back Saquon Barkley and Cooper DeJean, the rookie defensive back who ran an interception into the end zone on his 22nd birthday.

Barkley, at one point, hopped off one of the open-air buses to walk along the parade route and exchange high-fives with fans.

Jordan Jaindl, who couldn’t make it to the 2018 parade after the Eagles won their first Super Bowl, wasn’t going to miss this one, bringing his wife and three daughters from Binghamton, New York. This team, he said, was the embodiment of the city.

“Their work ethic,” he said. “How they have to grind for each win. We have to grind here in Philly.”

Fans showed up with grocery carts stocked with food and booze while a few stayed warm in a hotel, sipping champagne. One group roasted a pig with the number “15” carved into the side — a final shot at Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

The Eagles, despite being underdogs, dominated the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, shutting them out in the first half before finishing with a 40-22 victory.

Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, who made an amusing gaffe when she mangled the spelling of the “Eagles” as she led a chant last month, corrected herself earlier this week by calling them the “N-F-L-C-H-A-M-P-I-O-N-S.”

She and other city leaders implored the team’s exuberant fans to stay safe and keep the mood festive for the Valentine’s Day dinner crowd.

“Do not climb any light poles,” the mayor said. “In the midst of all this beauty, all of the sacrifices this team has made to meet this moment, we don’t want it to all go by the wayside.”

Despite her admonitions, a few fans stood on top of port-a-potties and city trucks downtown.

Just weeks ago, a college student died falling from a street pole after the Eagles’ won the NFC championship game. A year ago, a shooting at Kansas City’s Super Bowl victory rally left one person dead and nearly two dozen wounded.

There was a large police presence along the Philadelphia parade route, which stretches from South Philadelphia where the Eagles play all the way to City Hall and then onto the art museum.

Dump trucks and heavy equipment blocked many of the side streets along the route. City schools closed for the parade, along with city courts and other agencies.

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Associated Press journalists Matt Rourke in Philadelphia, John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, and Steve Megargee in Milwaukee contributed.