'We ran out of liquor': The Eagles' Super Bowl celebrations are just getting started. Next stop: Broad Street.

Jeff Neiburg, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Feb 10, 2025

Published in Football

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NEW ORLEANS — "Excuse me," Howie Roseman said a few times.

The doors to the Philadelphia Eagles locker room inside the Caesars Superdome had opened to media, and there were bodies and cameras between Roseman and the party.

The architect of the Eagles' second Super Bowl, whose offseason moves brought the Eagles from collapse to coalescence, needed to get into the mix. Cigar in his right hand, Roseman shimmied to the center of the floor, threw his hands in the air, and danced.

There was a lot of dancing inside the winners' locker room Sunday night. Victory cigars pumped plumes of smoke into the air. A party fit for Bourbon Street was on, and, really, it had started long before the confetti fell to the turf. The Eagles turned the Super Bowl into a beatdown. They rolled the Chiefs, 40-22, and it wasn't anywhere near that close.

"We earned that mother —, it didn't have to be close," defensive tackle Jordan Davis said as he came off the field and jogged into the locker room.

The Eagles, those who were around last time for a heartbreaking loss in Arizona, erased the pain from two years ago and stopped a dynasty in its tracks.

"We didn't even worry about what happened last time," said edge rusher Josh Sweat, who had 2 1/2 sacks. "Nothing is stopping this defense, man."

What was different, though, about this team?

"Just the love we have for each other," Sweat said. "The way we connected, the way we made sure we didn't do anything to hurt the guy next to us. We just played together, and whoever makes the play makes the play."

Jalen Carter, whose impact on the game — occupying two blockers to create space for others — didn't show up on the stat sheet, took a break from the party to talk about the tight-knit group that got the job done.

"Togetherness," he said. "We're all together. We're all one. It's like a college atmosphere in here."

He was talking about the team in general, but he could've meant the party, too, which at times looked like a fraternity floor in you-name-it college town. Saquon Barkley shotgunned a beer like he was back in State College. Nolan Smith sprayed in the air whatever liquid he could get his hands on like he was back in Athens. A pantless Landon Dickerson chugged a beer with the Lombardi Trophy in his hands like he was in Tuscaloosa or Tallahassee. Do-it-all security czar Dom DiSandro, like Barkley a Penn Stater, walked around with an Italian flag draped over his shoulders. South Philly to a second Super Bowl.

Brandon Graham had former Super Bowl teammate Jason Peters on the other end of a FaceTime call. Earlier, he walked around the locker room shaking hands and hugging practically every player and staff member in his path. He and Roseman shared a long embrace. Graham didn't say whether Sunday was his last game or not, but if it was, he was going out a champion.

Barkley and teammates bounced to Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us." The diss track had a national audience at halftime, but the Eagles were inside the locker room with a 24-0 lead, the second-largest halftime lead in Super Bowl history. It grew to 34-0 and then 40-6. Later, they danced to the song, celebrating Kansas City's demise the way Lamar's supporters celebrate Drake's downfall.

Super Bowl MVP Jalen Hurts found a pouch in his locker stall and pulled out a cigar. He struggled at first to light it and then took the cigar and a can to the center of the floor to spray his teammates, a big smile on his face.

At one point during the party, A.J. Brown retreated to his locker stall, leaned back, and started to scroll on his phone.

"I'm ready to go home," Brown said, laughing. "I'm ready to celebrate with my family. I'm trying to slow down, been drinking a little bit and haven't eaten yet so I'm a little tipsy. I'm just excited, man. This is everything. I'm just taking it all in."

Asked by a television reporter for his message to Eagles fans, Brown said: "We're bringing that Lombardi back. We can't wait to celebrate with you. This is for you."

Brown's counterpart, DeVonta Smith, who rose from tiny Amite City, 75 miles north of New Orleans, to a touchdown scorer in a Super Bowl at the Superdome, spent some time away from the revelry hanging in the corridor outside the locker room.

"I don't even know what to say," he said.

There was plenty of that going around. The partying came easier than the words. That is, until the alcohol ran out.

"We ran out of liquor," Nolan Smith said. "Anyone got liquor, let me know." Nick Sirianni asked a staff member where the Fireball was.

A team party awaited their arrival at the Hilton Riverside hotel they had made their home all week. It was 11 p.m. in New Orleans, and the night was young.

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