Nick Sirianni on ‘hostile’ Eagles fans: ‘Our crowd makes it difficult’ for opposing team ahead of NFC Championship

In Philly sports lore, the infamous snowballs at Santa Claus incident practically feels like yesterday.

But for Nick Sirianni, the treacherous holiday pelting came 12 years before he was born, which was apparent on Friday when the second-year head coach flubbed his dates during a press briefing ahead of the Eagles’ NFC championship game.

“I think that Santa Claus snowball thing was in ‘79, but I know it’s still talked about,” Sirianni told reporters when asked about Eagles fans’ hostile reputation.

When Sirianni was corrected — 1968 was the right year — he brushed it off with a smile and continued to laud the Bird Gang’s rowdiness.

“Our crowd inspires us, our crowd makes it difficult for the opposing team.. they are hostile,” Sirianni said. “I knew that as being an opposing coach coming here, how intimidating it can be. They’ll make life difficult, no doubt, for this team that’s coming in here because who they are as fans.

“It’s gonna be loud, we’ll feed off that,” he said.

While Sirianni was confident that Philly will bring plenty of attitude to Sunday’s home showdown with the San Francisco 49ers, don’t expect to see snowballs flying.

Sunday’s expected high is 53 degrees, with partly cloudy skies and slim chances of precipitation.

For those who need a reminder, here’s what went down on that chilly December day in 1968, when over 54,000 fans packed into the Eagles’ former stadium Franklin Field to watch them take the Minnesota Vikings — and yes, pelted Santa from the stands.

It was the final game of a dismal Eagles season, when the team claimed just two wins and 11 losses. The season was so bad, in fact, one hall of fame sportswriter called it the franchise’s worst year on record.

Worse yet, a two-game win streak leading up to the Dec. 14 game somehow managed to keep the Birds just close enough from tanking and earning the No. 1 draft pick for the following season.

That’s not to mention the weather.

The night before, a powerful snowstorm doused Franklin Field in snow and left lingering 20 degree temperatures for Sunday’s kickoff. While the team played as scheduled, the storm caused travel problems for one important guest — a Santa Claus booked by the team for its halftime Christmas pageant.

That’s when 20-year-old fan Frank Olivo, who was in the stands and and happened to be dressed as Santa, was called on to step in.

Another hiccup — the float Olivo was to stand on got stuck in the mud — caused the jolly him to walk the pageant on foot, and putting him right in the line of fire for an already aggravated Birds crowd.

A “lousy, little Santa running down the field,” is what one announcer would later call Olivo’s performance.

“…the worst-looking Santa I’d ever seen,” said former Eagles’ executive Jim Gallagher. “Bad suit, scraggly beard. I’m not sure whether he was drunk, but he appeared to be.”

By the time Olivo got to the end zone, the crowd was ready to give a review of their own. Down came snowballs, beer bottles — even hoagies, according to one account. Olivo later would say he was hit by at least 100 snowballs so hard that they they knocked his fake white eyebrows off.

And a legend was born. Despite receiving little mention in The Inquirer and other papers, the stunt earned Philly the reputation it holds to this day after it was featured on ABC Weekend Report by Howard Cosell and discussed on other networks like CBS and ESPN.

Olivo died from heart disease in 2015, but not before getting to reappear as Santa for a Sixers promotion in 2003. Reports say he was met with cheers, but because this is Philly, of course those turned into boos.