Posted on 12/29/2003 6:08:18 AM PST by randita
Posted on Mon, Dec. 29, 2003
Are Eagles 'America's Team' now?
Cowboys are a joke, while Birds thrive
By JIM NOLAN, nolanj@phillynews.com
THE DALLAS Cowboys may be back in the playoffs, but it's about time they relinquish one of their titles:
"America's Team."
With a Super Bowl win this time 'round, that designation could rightfully belong to your Philadelphia Eagles.
OK, maybe it's the egg nog talking. Or perhaps it's a spike in our holiday spirit thanks to a late Christmas present from the Detroit Lions, who beat the St. Louis Rams yesterday to give the 12-4 Birds home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
But consider:
Dallas has the worst record in the NFC East this century.
Their cheerleaders are still stuck in a cliched and stale fusion of Playboy meets "Dukes of Hazard."
And Dallas the city hasn't been on the national radar since we found out who shot J.R. (F.Y.I., It was Kristin, J.R.'s psycho sister-in-law, pregnant with his love child.)
By contrast, the Eagles, and by extension, Philadelphia - seem just a Super Bowl away from nesting prominently in the American sports conscience.
By the numbers
The Eagles' on-field accomplishments state an impressive case for consideration as "America's Team" for the new millenium.
Since the 2000 season, the Eagles have compiled the best regular season record in the NFL, 46-18.
They have made the playoffs each of the last four years.
They have won three straight division titles.
They have played in the last two NFC championship games.
The team's success on the field has also paid huge dividends off the field, attracting media exposure that has boosted the Birds' popularity on the national stage in addition to their bottom line.
Seventy-five percent of the team's internet merchandise business is coming from out of the tri-state area,' said Eagles merchandising director Steve Strawbridge.
Officials say unique visits to the Eagles web site have soared.
And even the Eagles cheerleaders have snatched the national television and magazine spotlight from their competitors with sexy Vera Wang uniforms and the NFL's first lingerie calendar.
Prime-time players
Perhaps the biggest indicator of the team's rise to national popularity may be it's prime time television exposure.
Last season, following their first NFC championship game appearance in more than 20 years, the Eagles were scheduled for three Monday night games. They won all of them.
This season, the Eagles also played in three Monday night games. The ratings for those three games, during which the Birds went 2-1, were season highs for Monday Night Football.
The NFL also scheduled the Eagles in more primetime and nationally televised games than any other franchise this year.
"They were bringing people to the TV sets and the league understood that, so they put them in more national spots," said Ray Didinger, senior producer for NFL Films and former football columnist for the Daily News who is in the NFL Hall of Fame.
"A lot of it is that they've won more games than anyone else since 2000. And I also think McNabb is one of the most marketable players the league has."
The McNabb Factor
If the Eagles are the next America's team, Donovan McNabb might well be America's quarterback.
McNabb's emergence as a star player has drawn Bird watchers from well outside the city limits.
Four straight winning seasons of highlights and heroics have translated into three straight selections to the pro bowl.
Still, experts say it's McNabb's personal charm that has helped craft a positive national image for his team and made him a perfect pitchman for Madison Avenue.
His No. 5 jersey is one of the three best sellers in NFL jerseys, according to Strawbridge.
His classy response to Rush Limbaugh's racially insensitive remarks early in the season won him even more fans in America's living rooms.
In addition to his well-known Chunky Soup ads, McNabb has been the star in two other national advertisements - for Reebok and Visa - both of which were shot in the Philadelphia area.
"He has incredible charisma that draws people to him," said Bill Arrowood, a national television, film and commercial location manager who worked with McNabb on the spots.
Arrowood says the "America's Team" title is there for the taking.
"America's Team left Dallas after [coach] Tom Landry," he said. "... The Tampa Bay Bucs never had a chance to become America's team. It's just a bizarre part of the country, a sports vacuum."
Philadelphia and the Eagles, said Arrowood, are resonating more and more with national advertisers and corporations looking for a diverse, sellable snapshot of America.
"They carry with them an honesty and integrity of being a working class city and a team that carries a strong work ethic."
There's one other minor factor:
"They're winners. If they stunk, it would be a whole different story."
Here's where the argument gets a little tricky. From 1970 to 2000, the Cowboys appeared in eight Super Bowls and won five. The Eagles have appeared in one and won none.
Are they good enough to inherit the mantle of America's Team?
No, says the man who coined the famous phrase for the Cowboys 25 years ago. At least not right now.
"The Eagles are this area's team - they're the Delaware Valley's football team and South Jersey's football team," said Bob Ryan, the vice president for programming development at NFL films.
"You have to have a national following - that's how America's team started," he said. "You either loved them or you hated them.
"The Yankees, the Celtics, Notre Dame. Teams that had followings of fans that grew up and liked the team from different places."
The Cowboys, said Ryan "were so good for so long." The Eagles, he said, are poised, but they have a lot more to prove.
"You've got to win and have to win more than once and sustain it over years," he said.
It should be noted, however, that Ryan came up with the "America's Team" moniker following the Cowboys Super Bowl loss to the Steelers in 1979, before they had won three of their five titles.
"It would be just great to see the Eagles get in the Super Bowl and win it," said Ryan, who grew up in the Philadelphia area.
"To become a great team is very hard. If they won a couple, I'm sure one of our guys would come up with something."
Staff writer Don Russell contributed to this report.
© 2003 Philadelphia Daily News and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.philly.com
What an interesting development.
This is a three way race between Green Bay, St. Louis and Philly. And I must admit, I'm a bit worried about facing Brett Favre in the Divisional Playoff...
The Eagles are getting national exposure because they play in the media division: NYG, Wash, and Dallas (the aforementioned "America's Team").
Trust me, if the Eagles were in the AFC North (like my beloved, division champion Ravens), we'd never hear about them. I'm not saying the Eagles don't deserve attention; their success warrants it. But competing directly with New York and Washington teams helps.
So it is 'racially insensitive' to point out that the bulk of the media is oversensative to race?
his well-known Chunky Soup ads, McNabb
Which play quite often on Rush's show.
You're not kidding! The officiating last night was AWFUL!
The New England Patriots are America's team.
14-2 with only two Pro Bowlers? 7-0 against teams with winning records?
BWAAHAHAHAHAHA
Yup. That's why the Birds have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The other teams just thought, "oh, crap, we'd better roll over for McNabb, or Rush Limbaugh will be proven right", and the Eagles ended up with the best record in the NFC. In fact, they've seen it coming for years.
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