‘Sorry, Carolina Panthers,’ but Dawn Staley says her Eagles are Super Bowl bound
Anyone who follows Dawn Staley knows she is all about her hometown Philadelphia Eagles, even after a decade in Columbia.
In fact, it appears that Staley’s fandom has only grown stronger as of late. This October, she did something she’s never done before, she said Tuesday: She saw the Eagles in person when they visited the Carolina Panthers.
“That was my first Eagles game, ever. I don’t really like going to the stadium, Eagles fans are crazy. We’re crazy!” Staley said. “Something can happen in the stands. But I really enjoyed it becuase it was an away game, there was a pocket of Eagles fans here and there. We had a good time.”
Hope y’all can see the scoreboard.....if not you can borrow a pair of my eyes. #FlyEaglesFly #gooddefensepantherstho pic.twitter.com/Jo6sjyubDE
— dawnstaley (@dawnstaley) October 13, 2017
It certainly helped that the Eagles won that game, 28-23. Since then, they’ve continued to win and are currently 10-1, with a chance to clinch their playoff spot this weekend. And if Philly makes it all the way to the Super Bowl, as Staley said is sure to happen, then she wants to be there for her second ever in-stadium game, with one obvious caveat.
“I would probably go to a Super Bowl, of course, if there’s no game,” the South Carolina women’s basketball coach said. “But we are going to the Super Bowl. Eagles. Super Bowl. Sorry, Carolina Panthers, but we got it going on this year. We gotta take the good with the bad, and we have done that for years, but it’s the good now.”
Unfortunately for Staley, while her Gamecocks are off on Feb. 4, 2018, Super Bowl Sunday, they are slated to play No. 1 Connecticut on Feb. 1 and then travel to No. 6 Mississippi State on Feb. 5. So the timing is less than ideal.
But Staley is still full of praise for her hometown team and its MVP-candidate quarterback, Carson Wentz.
“He’s a great guy. He’s a great quarterback. What I like about him is he’s a team guy, and he’s in those touchdown celebrations,” Staley said. “And that’s what it’s all about about. He’s building trust with his teammates and that’s what leadership is.”
Of course, Staley also has a South Carolina connection to the Eagles: former USC great Alshon Jeffery joined Philadelphia this offseason and gave her the tickets to the Panthers game. He has since gone on to post some of the best numbers of his career, with seven touchdown catches and 619 receiving yards with five games still to go in the season.
Left the stadium to beat the crowd but had a great time amongst my fellow @Eagles fans. It was my first regular season @NFL game. It was awesome. Thank you @TheWorldof_AJ for the tix & experience and receptions. #FlyEagelsFly #greatgamepanthers
— dawnstaley (@dawnstaley) October 13, 2017
“Aw man, it’s the best of both worlds,” Staley said of Jeffery’s season. “Alshon’s happy, Alshon’s on a team that he’s hopefully helping go to the Super Bowl, and I think that’s what it’s all about: finding a happy place and being successful.”
This story was originally published November 29, 2017 at 7:16 PM with the headline "‘Sorry, Carolina Panthers,’ but Dawn Staley says her Eagles are Super Bowl bound."