Don't Fret: Somewhere In This World The Eagles Are Super Bowl Champions

As the Philadelphia Eagles and the rest of the NFL prepare for the 2009 football season, owners, including Jeff Lurie, promise fans better seasons, and some, a possible Super Bowl Championship.

This may be a story that you have heard, or not, but one worth telling again. Somewhere in this world, children are wearing Eagles Super Bowl Champions shirts, as are those of the Buffalo Bills or Minnesota Vikings.

Shown above, are children in a foreign country wearing New England Patriot Super Bowl Champions shirts, which is not unusual considering the Patriots' history. What is unusual, is noting their 2007 "perfect" 19-0 season, which never happened.

According to a story in the New York Times these "loser" shirts are sent to countries such as Niger, Uganda, and Sierra Leone. "By order of the National Football League, those items are never to appear on television or eBay. They are never even to be seen on American soil," said the Feb. 4, 2007 article in the New York Times.

Young fans might think that Super Bowl Champions shirts and hats are made within minutes, or seconds, after a team wins the ultimate championship.

Nope. Super Bowl Champion shirts and hats were made for Pittsburgh and Arizona well before the game was finished, and probably well before the game was played.

Don't go searching for Detroit Lion championship gear, but somewhere Eagles, Seattle, Chicago, Arizona and of course, Minnesota and Buffalo championship gear exists.

"Where these items go, the people don't have electricity or running water," said Jeff Fields, a corporate relations officer World Vision. "They wouldn't know who won the Super Bowl. They wouldn't even know about football."

I thought of this story after hearing members of our church talk about a missionary trip to Guatemala. It is also about the time of year when Jeff Lurie tells Eagles fans how close the Eagles are from winning it all.

"The Gold Standard," "A Whisker Away."

Hey, I am not griping. I have a different take on the Eagles.

I enjoy the team and want to win a championship as bad as the next guy.

But I like all the Philadelphia teams and when the Phillies won the World Series, it became a positive realization, instead of a negative one.

I may never see the Eagles win a Super Bowl in my lifetime. The Eagles 24-21 loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX may be the best I ever see.

Probably not, but if it doesn't happen, what am I going to do?

They are one of the best teams in the NFL. Donovan McNabb is still one of the best quarterbacks in the league. And I believe in Head Coach Andy Reid.

But don't give me the "Gold Standard."

The Eagles aren't even the Buffalo Bills, who were four-time Super Bowl losers.

And ...

The Bills and Vikings have many more Super Bowl Championship T-Shirts than the Philadelphia Eagles ... somewhere in this world.

** Photo courtesy of Google search and quote from New York Times story: "Far Away, Super Bowl's Losers Will Be Champs," published February 4, 2007.