YOU GOTTA BELIEVE

I’ll have my “official” Super Bowl score prediction posted on Bleeding Green Nation later this week, but I wanted to get something off my chest as I type this on a flight out to Minneapolis.

The Eagles are going to win the Super Bowl.

You might not want to see that because you feel like I’m jinxing it. If that’s the case, well, I am *NOT* sorry.

Just like the title says, this year feels DIFFERENT.

This is not your typical Philadelphia sports team where you expect inevitable disappointment.

This is a team worth believing in.

I really don’t understand how you could doubt them at this point. They’ve proved people — including myself — wrong at every turn.

Maybe you’re still caught up in the mystique of the Patriots. Maybe you’re still intimidated by Tom Brady and Belichick. It’s certainly not crazy to feel that way.

But this Super Bowl isn’t about the Patriots. They have their rings. Their legacy is already set in stone.

This Super Bowl is about the Philadelphia Eagles. The team that no one believed could get here.

The underdogs.

The 2017 Eagles are just a team unlike one we’ve ever seen before. The team chemistry is amazing. There’s talent and depth across the board. The coaching is, dare I say, elite!

When I think back to 2004, the first full season I started to really follow the Eagles, I think back to being NERVOUS about going into Super Bowl XXXIX.

After losing three straight NFC Championship Games and finally getting over the hump in the fourth one, there was just so much pressure on that team to win.

And we didn’t have full confidence that they would. Because we had seen this team let us down multiple times before. We didn’t FULLY trust Andy Reid.

That’s just not the case here.

I whole-heartedly believe in Doug Pederson. He’s earned everyone’s confidence. I believe in this team. They’ve earned it, too.

If you don’t believe in destiny, you better start, because I think that’s exactly what this team is. These guys are special. And deep down inside of you, I think you can feel it, too.

I realize this might make me sound crazy, but I feel like I’ve already been to the future and I know that the Eagles have won the Super Bowl. I feel like I’ve seen in my crystal ball. (I don’t actually own a crystal ball.)

For me, it’s kind of just a waiting game. I’m waiting to see it happen on Sunday.

Of course, I haven’t actually seen into the future. (Or so you think.) It’s possible that I end up being wrong.

I won’t look back at this moment with regret, though. I won’t have doubts about expressing how I truly felt at this time.

And I hate to do this because it sounds like I’m OK with settling for a moral victory, which isn’t the case, but I’d also be lying if I told you I wasn’t proud as hell of this Eagles team.

No matter what happens in the Super Bowl, the 2017 Eagles are a team you can always be proud of.

They fought hard to overcome injuries. They fought hard to overcome skeptics and doubters. They fought hard to make a positive impact in the community off the field. They fought hard to represent and reward the city of Philadelphia and the best fans in the NFL.

Eight words:

“We all we got. We all we need.”

There couldn’t be a more fitting motto for the season.

Prior to my plane’s departure for Minnesota on Monday morning, I texted some friends and family to let them know my plane was about to take off.

It was then that a thought struck me: by the time I land in Philadelphia next Monday, the Eagles are going to be Super Bowl champions. There’s going to be a parade down Broad Street. Everyone’s going to be so happy.

We’ll see if that’s the case.

For now, I have hope.

Remember, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.