Casey & Cuz Are Bringing “Philly Things,” Including Ashes of Eagles Fans, to Arizona
The week leading up to Super Bowl LVII, 93.3 WMMR’s CaseyBoy and 97.5 The Fanatic’s Anthony Gargano hit the road for a cross country trip to Arizona. The goal of their journey is to bring luck and good juju to the Eagles.
Inspired by the It’s a Philly Thing theme that the team launched for the Playoffs, the radio hosts invited listeners to drop off “Philly Things” at the radio station. The items were packed up safely for the journey from Philadelphia, PA to Phoenix, AZ with lots of stops in between.
To keep with superstition, Casey used a bright green suitcase to hold the items. It’s stuffed with a menagerie of items: from good luck charms, superstitious trinkets and Philly memorabilia, to… well… actual people. Next to the piece of decking from the Battleship New Jersey, Eagles pennant and terracotta tile from the PHL Airport are small vessels of Eagles-fan-ashes. Yes, people gave us parts of their loved ones to bring to the Big Game.
Which means the the radio crew has three additional guests with them for their road trip, in a beautiful -yet somewhat eerie- tribute to Eagles fans who aren’t here anymore to watch the the Super Bowl.
The stories of these much-loved Eagles fans are not to be dismissed. It shows the true integrity of our city, and the passion of Philadelphia Eagles fans. It shows that people will go above and beyond for their family, their team, and their city in order to bring home the Lombardi Trophy. While other sports fans may see it as bizarre; we see it as an act of unconditional love. Below are the stories of families making their journey to Arizona.
Listener Bob Mumie was a passionate Eagles fan, through and through. His daughter Rachel describes him as being “full blown Silver Linings Playbook” when it came to superstitions. She believed that he was a good luck charm this season, wanted to make sure his luck made it to Arizona for Sunday’s game.
Listener Casey’s mother, Annegret, was an avid Eagles fan, and consistently wore Eagles merchandise and the craziest things for good luck. Casey is sending her mom’s ashes as a sign of good luck for our Eagles.
As Casey was packing up the road trip car on Sunday evening, a member of the Cummins family came by with a bottle of their patriarch, Rob’s, favorite whiskey. Inside the the bottle was not whiskey, instead, a little bit of Rob’s ashes.
A few other fans are being honored on the trip in other ways. Listener Sean’s mother used to work for the Eagles game day staff before she passed away. She had a passion for the organization like none other, and her dream was to make it to an Eagles Superbowl. Sean trusted us with his mother’s Gameday lanyard, covered with Eagles pins and a letter to his mother.
Prayer cards of Eagles fans gave families a sense of peace, knowing their loved one was going to make it to the game. The dedication of these fans continues into the next life, and we cannot wait for them to complete their journey to Arizona.
Although other cities might not condone the idea of taking ashes on a cross country road trip, we have one thing to say; It’s a Philly Thing.
