'Philly Special' play is the battle cry of the Eagles and their city to this day

PHOENIX — With 34 seconds remaining in the second quarter of Super Bowl LII, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Doug Pederson called a timeout. His Eagles were facing fourth-and-goal from the New England 1-yard line. They led 15-12 and it felt like everyone from the Philly radio booth to the corner bars back in East Passyunk were screaming to kick a field goal.

The Eagles were 4-point underdogs, facing the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick juggernaut with journeyman Nick Foles under center. In the more conservative, pre-analytic era of play-calling, taking the points and some momentum into halftime seemed wise.

Foles and Pederson saw it differently. The player suggested, and the coach concurred, that they run a trick play. And so they did.

The Philly Special.

Foles lined up in a shotgun formation and then waved running back Corey Clement directly behind him. The quarterback then left his spot to run up to the line, yelling “Kill, kill!” as if he was going to call for an audible. Instead the ball was snapped to Clement who began running to his left before flipping the ball backward to tight end Trey Burton, who was swinging right.

In the confusion, Foles slipped undetected into the end zone, where Burton delivered a perfect pass.

The Eagles led 22-12 and everyone was stunned, not merely by the score, but the boldness, the confidence, the mentality that inspired it. The sentiment was compounded by the fact New England attempted a similar play earlier in the game, only to see Brady drop the pass.

This was Philly being Special.

“It’s one of those moments where you say, ‘This is the play that’s going to win you the Super Bowl,’” Pederson told NFL Films.

Indeed, the Eagles would win, besting New England 41-33 to take their first Lombardi Trophy.

The touchdown wasn’t the game-winner, or even a fourth-quarter score. New England would actually lead, 33-32 with 2:21 left in the game. However, it is undoubtedly the most enduring memory of that triumph.

“It’s the greatest play in Eagles history,” said Howard Eskin, longtime radio and television host in the city and part of the team radio broadcast. “And I don’t think I had to think that long about it.”

“People tear up when they hear the term, ‘Philly Special,’” said Mike Sielski, columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer. “The guts to call it. The flawlessness in which they ran it. The fact they did it against Brady and Belichick.

“It is the symbol of everything Philly sports wants to be, a thumb in the eye of the favorite,” Sielski continued.

If anything, it has only grown in stature in the five years since it was run. The Philly Special isn’t just a play, it has become a battle cry for the city, a representation of a mentality that showed the pluck of the underdog.

Philadelphia is the sixth-most populous city in America, home to the signing of the Declaration of Independence and a global center for education, medicine and finance. Yet it sits between America’s largest and most famous metropolis (New York) and its capital (Washington), leaving it often overlooked and with an inferiority complex.

The fortunes of its four major professional sports franchises haven’t helped. From 1983 (76ers) until 2017 (Eagles), only a Phillies World Series in 2008 broke a title drought. The losses were often heart-wrenching. The city’s most famous sports movie, "Rocky," has always been a source of pride, but in the original, even Balboa wound up not winning.

The Philly Special seemed to change not just the results, but the collective mindset that almost expected a gut-punch defeat against New England that day.

“It’s a Philly thing,” said fan Michelle Whalen, who is here with her husband Dan for Sunday’s Super Bowl against Kansas City. “It means Philadelphia always comes from behind. We never stop, we just keep coming, you can’t get us down.

“We are the underdog and that is the Philly Special,” she continued.

There is no one in Philadelphia who doesn’t understand that. It’s a city motto now, a burst of optimism. The chamber of commerce couldn’t have written it better.

Philly. Special.

“You hear ‘Philly Special’ and everyone gets excited,” said Eagles veteran Fletcher Cox.

“Everything is ‘Philly Special,’” said Michael Vick, the Eagles quarterback from 2009-2013. “The guys embrace what the city is about. They play hard for the city. I always wanted to put on a show for the crowds I played for, but Philly was different because they demanded you play good football.”

“Iconic play,” said offensive lineman Jack Driscoll. “People say it all the time.”

“That’s the motto,” said fan Corey Lewis. “It’s just tough, grit, get the win.”

“I could walk down the street in Philadelphia and if I say, ‘Philly Special,’ to 1,000 people, 999 would know what I am talking about,” Eskin said. “There might be one that just isn’t a football fan. But even if you aren’t a football fan you’ve heard of ‘Philly Special.’”

Some of that is the extended cultural impact.

The Eagles sell T-shirts, banners and paraphernalia featuring the phrase after winning the copyrights to it in an eight-way legal fight. It included the Pottsville, Pennsylvania, based Yuengling Brewery, the oldest in the United States, that wanted to release a beer by that name.

Even with the trademark, the phrase dots menus and sales items on small businesses across the region.

“It will be a term of endearment in the city forever,” Sielski said. “You have drinks named after it. Sandwiches. All of that kind of stuff.”

That includes the Philly Special Pinot Noir — with the play diagram on the label — available for $19.95 a bottle. And the Philly Special wedding band is looking to play your reception. And a mural depicting the play painted on the side of a house in South Philadelphia.

In December, current Eagles Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson and Jordan Mailata released a charity music album dubbed “A Philly Special Christmas.” And, of course, there is the Bud Light-sponsored statue of Pederson and Foles agreeing on the play outside Lincoln Financial Field.

It is everywhere. It's in everything. It was the perfect execution of the perfect play at the perfect time; and with the perfect name it’s taken on a legacy of its own. The Eagles may win Sunday, but it will be different.

“It’s a Philly thing,” Vick said.

A Philly Special.