MIKE BURKE

Allegany Communications Sports

Though the rivalry has never been Redskins-Cowboys from the day, or Eagles-Giants or even 76ers-Celtics, Washington vs. Philadelphia has always been a hotly-contested and oftentimes heated sports rivalry between two cities going back to 1964 when the Eagles traded quarterback Sonny Jurgensen to the Redskins for quarterback Norm Snead and cornerback Claude Crabb as part of a rebuilding effort under new head coach Joe Kuharich.

Advantage Washington …

Why wouldn’t Washington-Philadelphia be a natural? The cities are just a 139-mile drive apart on I-95, which is going to be busy this weekend as plenty of D.C. fans will be making the trip for Sunday’s NFC Championship Game at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field between the Commanders and the Eagles.

Anyone from outside of Philly who has made the trip to one of these understands it is not for the faint of heart, as Eagles – or Iggles – fans are indeed a rare breed, and not always in the most suitable of ways.

In 1983 when the Redskins went into Veterans Stadium and beat the Eagles by 10 points, Philly fans took exception to the routine of one Zema Williams, better known to football fans then as Chief Zee, who served as the team’s unofficial mascot since 1978 and received a lot of national television exposure.

During the game, Chief Zee was attacked in the stands by two men, who tore his costume and ripped the feathers from his headdress. After being thrown out of the stadium, the same two guys and two others jumped Chief Zee in the parking lot and broke one of his legs, an arm, his ribs and one of his eye sockets.

When paramedics tried to take him to a Philadelphia hospital, Chief Zee, who had very little of his clothes remaining, refused and took a limo back to D.C. to receive treatment.

The following season, the Eagles provided Chief Zee’s transportation and tickets to the Vet as a means of apology, and midway into the first quarter, “an elderly woman,” according to the Chief, told him he had his “nerve coming in here dressed like that” and threw a beer in his face. The Chief immediately left the Vet and never returned to Philly again.

You can’t make this up, but when it involves Philadelphia sports, nobody ever has to ask you if you did make it up.

Other notable moments in D.C.-Philly sports lore include the famous Body Bag Game at the Vet in 1990, when Eagles head coach Buddy Ryan promised body bags would be needed to carry Redskins players off the field. Nine Redskins players, in fact, would leave the game to injury in that game as the Eagles won, 28-14.

Advantage Philly …

Seven weeks later, the Redskins returned to the Vet to play the Eagles in the NFC Wildcard game and won the game, 20-6. The Skins lost the following week to the 49ers, but head coach Joe Gibbs always said his team’s Body Bag Redemption Game was the springboard to the Redskins’ 1991 world championship.

Advantage Washington …

The rivalry also carries over to baseball, as the Nationals and the Phillies have been strong rivals since the Nats arrived from Montreal in 2005. Thousands of Philly fans take the train to D.C. when the Phillies come to town through the course of any season, and Nationals Park is often referred to as South Philly South for those games.

My buddy Ed DeWitt, President Barack Obama and I went to the Nats’ Opening Day game in 2010 against the Phillies, mainly to see Sam Perlozzo, who had just joined the Phillies staff (and got us the tickets).

Ed and I (Barack didn’t sit with us) were fired up because it was finally baseball season, but so many others in the park that day couldn’t have cared less, as D.C. fans were absolutely gaga over the Redskins having acquired quarterback Donovan McNabb from the Eagles the night before. That’s all anybody was talking about during the first baseball game of the season.

Naturally, though, the thousands of Philly fans who were in attendance that day were more than happy to tell the boasting Redskins fans that McNabb was through and the Redskins would regret the time and the money spent.

Advantage Philly …

Then there is the Bryce Harper thing … Advantage Philly.

And now there is the little thing about Commanders owner Josh Harris also being the owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, which, given the season they’re having and given the latest saga of a new arena for the team, makes Harris a not too popular guy in the City of Brotherly Love, which isn’t a hard thing for anyone to become.

It’s always something with D.C. and Philly. Even when the something is under the radar, it simmers and boils over, usually into one big fine mess.

Sunday at Lincoln Financial could become that and, once more, won’t be for the faint of heart.

What’s left to say about Jayden Daniels? What’s left to say about Saquon Barkley?

The Eagles are favored by 6, and should be. But at this stage, what sense does it make to bet against Daniels and the Commanders?

If you go and the Commanders do win? Leave quickly and quietly.

And avoid any old ladies carrying big cups of beer.

Mike Burke writes about sports and other stuff for Allegany Communications. He began covering sports for the Prince George’s Sentinel in 1981 and joined the Cumberland Times-News sports staff in 1984, serving as sports editor for over 30 years. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow him on X @MikeBurkeMDT

 

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