The year was 1960.
The Philadelphia Eagles won their 3rd NFL Championship.
Obviously this was before the NFL-AFL merger, so it wasn’t technically a Super Bowl Championship.
Things were looking great for US rowing, and things were looking great for the Philadelphia Eagles.
And then….decades of coming up short.
Decades of just never being able to get the job done.
A bunch of silver and bronze medals for the US men’s rowing team.
A bunch of NFC Championship game appearances for the Philadelphia Eagles.
But for over 50 years, neither of them could get that big win.
Until 2017 when the Philadelphia Eagles won their first Super Bowl in franchise history.
February 4, 2018 is a top 5 day of pretty much everybody in the Delaware Valley’s life.
And standing in the crowd a few days later at the Super Bowl parade was Justin Best.
Just a kid from Kennett Square who was rowing in his junior year at Drexel.
Jason Kelce was up at the podium atop the Art Museum steps delivering an all-time Super Bowl victory speech.
Can I get a “GOOOOOO BIIRRDDDSSSS”
You’ve got Justin Best leading the way.
Fortunately for us, we’ll never have to find out.
The Birds ended up winning a championship just a few months later.
