Playing the Eagles at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field is no walk in the park. The fans are some of the most passionate in all of sports and the atmosphere is nothing short of ‘no holds barred.’
“Hostile,” said New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll when asked what he’s expecting things to be like at “The Linc” on Saturday night when his club plays the Eagles in the NFC Divisional Playoff round.
“I don’t have good adjectives for that one other than that,” said Daboll.
Giants All-Pro defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence described the Philadelphia fans as “gritty” and “hard nose” and told his mother to not attend the game because “she’ll go back at them.”
Safety Julian Love, the Giants’ top tackler this season, has been playing for the Giants for four years and knows the Philly fanbase as well as anyone on this roster.
“Playing in Philadelphia? Electric. Their fans are very passionate. They’re very into it. The team feeds off the crowd,” Love said. “It’s a city that loves their football team, for sure.”
Love, a Chicago native, knows the lay of the land but isn’t as concerned as Lawrence about the safety of the Giants’ families.
“Philly fans on a one o’clock kickoff, they’re hype. They’re fired up. Now you add the eight-p.m. start, they’re tailgating all day. That level of excitement for them is going to be turned up more…we’ve got to understand that,” he said. “Their fans are going to be their fans. Our families will be fine. It’s still a game at the end of the day. But my family’s pretty tough. They can handle anything. So, they’re good.”
Running back Saquon Barkley is also confident his family can handle themselves.
“Their fan base is crazy. They’re going to be loud, there’s going to be cheers, there’s going to be boos. There might be some double birds,” Barkley said. “That’s Philly, you know? … I expect it to be a hostile environment.”
It most certainly will be.
