Vince Papale: 'Give them credit...'

Minutes before the NFC Championship game began, Vince Papale was just as nervous as if he was suiting up himself.

Never mind that he was sitting in a Cherry Hill family room eating sausage and peppers.

"I'm not usually like this," said Papale, the once-upon-a-time unlikely Eagle whose life was the subject of the 2006 film, "Invincible." "But boy, am I keyed up."

Papale and 20 friends - "Papale's Paisanos" - gathered yesterday to watch a 32-25 heartbreaker on television at the Cherry Hill home of Scott and Ramonita Farnesi.

When the Birds trounced the Giants to advance to the NFC title game last week, the group watched at Scott and Ramonita's, and the die was cast.

"If we watch at my house, we lose," said Papale, who sat in a folding chair with a clipboard in front of him and the best view of the big screen TV. "And we have to wear the same thing."

Gary Farnesi, Scott's brother, offered a quick amendment.

"We wear the same stuff, but everything is washed," said Gary, who also lives in Cherry Hill.

And yes, the superstition extends to home decor. The Eagles blanket draping the big couch had to be hung backwards and upside down, and although it was nearly a month afer Christmas, the dining room still glowed with decorations.

"I wanted to take down the Christmas tree, but they said no," said Ramonita. "They said, 'You can't change anything.'"

It was an intense crowd - cheering, screaming, whooping, singing, clutching each other when plays were close.

"We get into it," said Ray Farnesi Sr., Scott and Gary's dad. "We curse at the TV."

Janet Papale, Vince's wife, nodded knowingly.

"Some of the boys cry," Janet said. "And Vince? He still bleeds green. Even though he's almost 63, he still thinks he's got a few hits in him."

During the lackluster first half, the mood was tense, Papale's jaw was set in a straight line.

"We know which team showed up today, and it wasn't the Eagles," Ray Sr. said.

"Vince wasn't too warm-and-fuzzy about this game," Janet said knowingly.

At halftime, people gathered around the buffet, trying to figure out how to change the team's luck. They would switch seats, they agreed. They would rearrange the Eagles blanket. They would toss a football outside to work off nervous energy. They would not lose hope.

Dee Farnesi, Ray Sr.'s wife, picked at a roast beef sandwich and rice.

"They're making me lose my appetite," said Farnesi, who lives in South Philadelphia. "I'm a nervous wreck."

When the Eagles began to surge in the second half, Papale led the cheers. He alternated between two positions - his folding chair (defense) and standing behind his friends (offense.)

The second DeSean Jackson made it across the goal line to give the Eagles their first - and only - lead of the game, Papale was perhaps the most jubilant fan in the region.

"Yeah!" he shouted, hugging son Vinny, 12. "Believe it!"

Just then, Papale's phone buzzed: a text message from Mark Wahlberg, the actor who portrayed him in Invincible.

"Go baby!" the text read.

But in the game's final minutes, things went south, and the room grew quiet again.

With less than a minute left, Gabriella Papale, 15, Vince and Janet's daughter, tried to rouse the group.

"Guys? What if we blitz?" Gabriella said.

No one answered her. It was too late, and when red and white confetti began falling at the end of the game, everyone turned away from the television.

Papale exhaled, walked into the kitchen, poured himself a beer. The first half sunk the Eagles, he said. The officials didn't help.

"You've got to give them credit, they never gave up," Papale said of his former team. "But they didn't make the big plays when it counted. I'm not a sore loser, but you hate to see it turn out this way."

Ray Sr. shrugged.

"I'm 73 years old. You get disappointed," he said.

But he'll be right back in the same spot on the couch next season, he said.

"We complain like hell," Ray Sr. said, "but we're there, win or lose."

Contact staff writer Kristen Graham at 215-854-5146 or kgraham@phillynews.com.