South Philadelphia was buzzing for Thursday’s Philadelphia Eagles game, despite it being the preseason. \u00a0<\/p>\n
“It feels so good to be back,” said Tom Gearhart, who has been season ticket holder for more than three decades and never misses a chance to bring his beloved van out to tailgate with his friends and on this day, his daughter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The van was born in, I think, 2009. We decorated it, as you can see. It’s got 40 years of posters in there, a lot of pictures, a lot of memories,” Gearhart said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fan Malik Johnson is eager to make new memories with his sons in this new season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It’s like Christmas \u2026 you can’t wait, the anticipation, because we know we have a great team,” Johnson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the award for who traveled the farthest might go to Wibe Blokland from the Netherlands, who was taking in his first Eagles game.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“I met this amazing girl, Katie McGowan, and she is a big Eagles fan, and so that turned me into an Eagles fan immediately,” Blokland said.<\/p>\n
And even in Dutch, hearing “Go Birds” once again sounds really really good.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many here are also already counting to the first official game on Sept. 4, four weeks from Thursday.<\/p>\n
The Eagles won the game, 34-27.<\/p>\n