Santa Claus: The Whole Story

Nothing will ever stop this ‘threw snowballs at Santa Claus’ business. The national media love it. They can repeat it mindlessly and get a reaction, the way a bad comic reverts to fart jokes. So there is no illusion here that the facts of the matter will stop this moronic meme.

But I was there, and the context of the incident is quite different than the media leads one to believe.

Eagle fans had support their team through losing seasons long before this incident. They also had witnessed this Eagle team win the NFL championship, beating Vince Lombardi’s sacred Green Bay Packers, Starr, Hornung and crew, in 1960. So they knew about winning, and losing.

Joe Kuharich became the new coach of the team after ownership changed hands. He was awarded a 15-year contract, essentially made coach for life. Yes, re-read that previous sentence. Have you ever known any coach to have a 15-year contract? Curious, isn’t it?

The team that began the decade as a champion, and was a contender after the championship season, declined drastically under this coach. The fans began to call for his removal, and wondered loudly about this ridiculous contract, which the new ownership seemed intent on honoring no matter how bad the team performed.

Kuharich treated the fans arrogantly even though his team was terrible, and the fans reaction only intensified. The traditional introduction of the team at the stadium (Franklin Field) began with the eleven starters on offence or defense, followed by “…And Coach Kuharich and the rest of the Eagle squad...” Kuharich’s name was booed so loudly in 1967 and 1968 that he had his name removed from that introduction.

One fan had a permanent “Joe Must Go” booth outside the stadium, where he campaigned for the coach’s firing. A “Joe Must Go” banner, flown over the stadium during games like the ones you see at the beach sometimes, was the contribution of another fan.

During that 1968 season, the fans came to suspect that the lengthy contract was probably part of the terms that the new owner agreed to in order to purchase the team. Kuharich had known Pete Rozelle from the Bay area and were friends. This incensed the fans even more. They were saddled with an incompetent coach by the league, and they were in complete, open revolt.

On an Arctic day in December, Minnesota, a recent expansion team, came to play the Eagles. Despite what you might read elsewhere, there were NOT 55,000 fans in the stands. Oh, the box score might say ‘attendance: 55,000’ because the Eagles season tickets were always sold out; you had to inherit the tickets, and still do. But the day was unbelievably cold, and the stadium wasn’t half full that day. It was clear on game day but had snowed before the game and Franklin Field was like Siberia, with snow blowing in the arctic winds.

My personal recollection is quite vivid. I had just gotten home from college, and I was very happy to be home, be back with my Dad at an Eagles game. They used to server hot chocolate in tall, thin cans that were heated, then inverted into a sturdy cup. You would lift the cup and let the hot chocolate drain into your cup. It had a distinct flavor, and was a real treat. My Dad and I had three each, before the game even started. We hoped that some more fans would show up, to block the winds. And we laughed about those things well after the game. Santa Claus was only a footnote.

But the frigid cold was no antidote for the boiling mad fans, who had one last gasp at expressing their outrage. So the team was loudly booed at the introduction. And at halftime, the Eagles sent out Santa Claus, as if to placate a fan base with bread and circuses. It didn’t work, and the fans rejected the cynical move.

Santa Claus started from the open end of the horseshoe-shaped stadium, and when he made the turn in the closed end, a few of the fans in the upper deck found the range with snowballs. It made everyone else laugh, even though they were almost completely frozen and furious at the same time. Many fans who were there never saw what happened. They were in the long lines for the bathrooms or the concessions stands, with no view of the field. It was not a big deal.

The next time you hear someone repeat the ‘they threw snowballs at Santa Claus, think about this: Maybe you belong to a fan base that wouldn’t reject open contempt from the team you support, wouldn’t boo awful performance and mediocrity surreptitiously imposed from outside. Maybe you wouldn’t get mad, maybe you would just show up late, sit there quietly, leave early, and take it.

If so, then too bad for you.