A Recap of Eagle Flight Night 2010 by our Resident Chesco Dad

E–A–G–L–E–S —- EAGLES! went the chant throughout Lincoln Financial Field at the start of Eagles Flight Night 2010 on August 5th. My son and I along with my brother-in-law and nephew attended this great event geared toward family entertainment and to get pumped up for Eagles football! Thanks to Chester County Moms for giving me the tickets and an opportunity to go the event and blog about it.

First off, I was excited to head down to Philly with my son, but at the same time I wasn’t sure how the night was going to turn out since my 5 1/2 year old son, LT, had a pretty traumatizing experience the last time he was in Philly for a sporting event. It was June 24th, the day of the huge wind storm and we had just left Citizens Bank Park and the Phillies game when the hail started to pelt the car on the Platt Bridge. LT has a fear of wind and rain to begin with and this was just not what he needed. You can read my post about Overcoming a Fear of the Rain for more of the back story.

But to my surprise and a little reassurance to LT, he was brave and didn’t think about things when we crossed the Platt Bridge, the source of his terror. He actually said to me, “Daddy, it’s not raining this time!” That was all I needed to hear to know the evening was going to be filled with fun and not sheer terror.

The Flight Night event kicked off at 5:00pm with music by Stolen Rhodes, a lot of booths set up with games and prizes for kids and families, and information on joining the Eagles Kids Club, which we did! I signed LT up for the $25 level so he would get a pack of Eagles Silly Bandz that were included in the package. All money made from this event goes to the Eagles Youth Partnership charity. We were psyched to see the cheerleaders take the field (ok, maybe LT wasn’t as excited), Swoop the Eagles mascot (LT was now excited) and fireworks (LT was NOT excited – he doesn’t like loud fireworks yet).

The fun got underway at 7pm when the cheerleaders took the field and lined up by the large inflatable Eagles helmet to create a “tunnel” for all of the players to run through during the introductions. My mind went from thinking “man it’s HOT here tonight” to “ok, let’s get pumped up for Eagles football” when the Rocky Theme started blasting over the PA. I really enjoyed watching the DiamondVision screens showing movie clips from “Rocky” and mixing in highlights from last season of key players, so did the rest of the fans that were there – filling almost all of the bottom section of the stadium.

Anyway, we had great seats, third row behind the endzone in the “Red Zone Seats”. These would be amazing seats for a real game. I’m jealous! From these seats the players looked gigantic – and not just because they have their pads on either. LT was asking me all about the players and I had to cheat since I only know the starting players names and numbers. I did explain why the quarterbacks wear a red jersey during practice. (If you don’t know, it’s so the defense doesn’t tackle or touch the QB during practice. We wouldn’t want an injured QB before the season starts.) I also was able to explain more about football to LT while sitting in the stadium. He started counting “30, 40, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10” and looked at me. I smiled and said, “Ah, in football they count by 10’s and go up to 50 and back to 0” and then thought that was too much info for a 5 year old. He knew that when a player crosses the goal line (which he said was Zero) they score a touchdown. We went over fumble, interceptions, field goals, first downs and more. I think LT was either extremely confused or extremely tired as his glazed stare at me indicated. It ended up being that he was extremely tired and therefore we left around 8:00pm but he had a great time just hanging out with me, as I did with him!

Thanks again to Chester County Moms for letting me attend the event. What a great event for families. Make sure to keep your eyes open for Eagles Flight Night 2011 next year! Even if you’re not a diehard Eagles fan – it’s still an amazing time and Dads, Moms, kids and grandparents will all enjoy it!

Leave a comment if you’d like to learn more about football without asking/annoying your husband. I’d be happy to answer your questions or post a Football 101 article on Chester County Moms.com.

Jeff is a Chester County Father of two, Daddy Blogger, Husband, Lawn Lover, and trying his best to be a DIY Guy. He also and Enjoys a Few Good Beers and Bottles of Wine. You can learn more about Jeff by visiting his blog, DaddysToolbox.com or following him on Twitter @daddystoolbox