I've always had this rule about football.
It's pretty simple, really. I'm a Dallas Cowboys fan. I hope that fact alone doesn't stop you from reading the rest of this because it gets a lot better. To me, if the Cowboys aren't in the playoffs, I will go for a team that hasn't won a Super Bowl.
I remember welcoming New Orleans Saints and Seattle Seahawks lovers into the fan fraternity of Super Bowl winning teams at various bars throughout Polk over the past few years.
There's a problem with my rule this time around.
How can any fan of the Dallas Cowboys ever cheer for the Philadelphia Eagles to win a Super Bowl? It's simple. You can't and you shouldn't.
That being said, will the Eagles finally deliver a title to a city that takes as much pride in its underdog role as it does in throwing snowballs at Santa Claus?
I must unequivocally utter a reluctant, yes.
The Eagles will beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.
I can't tell you how hard that was for me to type. I grew up hating the Eagles and much of their fanbase. Aside from the aforementioned Kris Kringle incident, there was the cheering for the soon to be revealed career-ending injury Michael Irvin suffered on the concrete-like turf of Veterans Stadium. There were the beatings the Eagles gave the Cowboys during Philly's constant NFC title game presence in the 2000s. There was the magic of Donovan McNabb eluding the entire Dallas defense it seemed on a Monday night to throw an improbable completion to Freddie Mitchell. There was the "Pickle Juice Game."
But first there was Buddy Ryan and "Bounty Bowl."
This is where the fire began for me as a young Cowboys fan. The Eagles' head coach had put bounties on several Cowboys players and it paid off in a brutal 27-0 Philadelphia win at Texas Stadium. The next meeting between the teams, "Bounty Bowl II" was also won by Philadelphia as more snowballs, as well as beer and ice, were chucked at anyone on the field, including Eagles defensive lineman Jerome Brown.
There are other incidents Eagles fans have been involved in as well. They rightfully earned the distinction of having a jail and court built into the bowels of Veterans Stadium to deal with unruly behavior.
Well, get ready for more of that kind of foolishness because it will finally happen for the football-title-starved city.
There are a few reasons for this.
The Patriots have had issues with NFC East teams before, especially ones with great defenses. We all have Eli Manning and the New York Giants' defense to thank for not hearing about how Tom Brady is going for this eighth Super Bowl ring.
The Eagles have the kind of defense to give New England quarterback Tom Brady fits. They get enough pressure from everywhere on the field and their corners benefit from this pressure through turnovers and poorly thrown balls.
Perhaps most important to Philadelphia's success is history.
History has been pretty kind to title-starved teams the past few years. Fans of the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Cavaliers can relate as their fans have seen long title droughts end for their once forlorn franchises.
Cue the Rocky soundtrack. Philly's gonna fly on Sunday night.
PREDICTION: Philadelphia 27, New England 20.