General Discussion

57 years ago today, Philadelphia accidentally created the most misunderstood Christmas story in sports history.

It was December 15, 1968. The Eagles were 2–11, Franklin Field was freezing, the season was already over and fans had reached full emotional collapse. The team thought the solution was a halftime Christmas pageant. Because nothing calms an angry Philly crowd like forced holiday cheer.

The planned Santa never showed up, so the Eagles grabbed a 19-year-old kid from the stands, who happened to be in a Santa suit and tossed him on the field. Meanwhile, it had snowed, fans had been packing snowballs all game (as one does), and morale was somewhere near the Delaware River bottom.

Was Santa drunk? There is no evidence of that although rumors still persist. What did happen is snowballs flew, some hit Santa, a legend was born, and Philadelphia has been defending itself ever since. No arrests. No injuries. Just a bad team, a last-minute Santa, and a city already pushed too far. And yes… we’re still hearing about it 57 years later.

Only in Philly.