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Fans flock to the Linc on Super Bowl Sunday ... to shop

”We couldn’t make it to Arizona,” said Carol Larock of Wisconsin, ”so we came to the next best place.”

Lee Levin looks over Eagles shirts and sweatshirts at a stand Sunday on York Road in Hatboro. Hours before the Super Bowl, Eagles fans throughout the region were still shopping for something green to wear during the game.
Lee Levin looks over Eagles shirts and sweatshirts at a stand Sunday on York Road in Hatboro. Hours before the Super Bowl, Eagles fans throughout the region were still shopping for something green to wear during the game.Read moreWilliam Thomas Cain
    by Vinny Vella
    Updated 
    Published 

If die-hard Eagles fans weren’t in Glendale, Ariz., in the hours before kickoff Sunday, chances are good they were waiting in line at the team’s pro shop on Pattison Avenue.

The tiny store, attached to Lincoln Financial Field, was packed with shoppers eager to grab last-minute shirts, hats or hoodies. Game day staffers John Ellis and Dennis Downs were enlisted to help handle the large crowds, which were still lined up, dozens deep, by midday.

”We had people waiting outside the door at 9 a.m. for us to open at 11,” Downs said. “Everyone’s looking for their Hurts jersey.”

Sunday’s shoppers had a good reason for their procrastination: Many traveled hundreds of miles to make their purchases.

Emily Doran and Mousa Ahmad arrived Saturday from Tuscaloosa, Ala. The pair have been big Hurts fans since his college days in their hometown, and wanted to see Philly up close.

”It’s amazing, such a good mix of history and art,” Ahmad said, slipping his just-purchased jersey over his shoulders, proclaiming he “feels like a champion,” emulating his favorite quarterback.

Nearby, other recent arrivals proudly displayed their purchases.

Jordan and Carol Larock drove to South Philly from Wisconsin, leaving their home Friday to get here in time for the big game. The mother and son have been lifelong Eagles fans, and thought there was no better time to make their first pilgrimage.

”We couldn’t make it to Arizona,” Carol Larock said, “so we came to the next best place.”

But not every shopper was a first-time visitor. Some, like South Philly’s own Tim Boyle, just needed one last piece of memorabilia.

Boyle rode SEPTA’s Route 4 bus to the stadium Sunday to buy his daughter Nilou something green to wear. The 4-year-old was in utero the last time the team made it to the Super Bowl, but has since become a die-hard fan: She knows the fight song by heart, according to her proud dad.

”She’s a newly minted fan,” Boyle said as he waited in line to buy his daughter some Eagles-branded hair ties. “And she couldn’t watch the game with no gear.”