Philadelphia Eagles fans revel in Super Bowl celebratory parade

Businesses in the City of Brotherly Love closed as crowds estimated at up two million people jammed Philadelphia's main streets for Thursday's parade to celebrate the Philadelphia Eagles' first Super Bowl victory.

The five-mile parade started at Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, then headed up Broad to City Hall before heading toward the Philadelphia Museum of Art, home of the famous "Rocky" staircase. And the parade ended with a stirring "underdog" speech by center Jason Kelce.

Fans clad in Eagles green lined up 20-deep in spots to see the team despite freezing winds. Many had camped out overnight despite the cold weather to get a good spot. The parade route was jammed with fans nearly four hours before it started.

Many of the Eagles players wore outlandish outfits, with most of them riding atop open-air double-decker buses in the parade, which started at 11 a.m. local time.

Defensive end Chris Long wore a full-length faux fur coat over an Allen Iverson 76ers jersey. Center Kelce was clad in full Mummers attire, a tribute to the annual Mummers Parade held New Year's Day in Philadelphia.

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie stood atop a bus along with quarterbacks Nick Foles, Carson Wentz and third-stringer Nate Sudfeld as they made their way through the fans.

Lurie held a sign reading "Thank You Fans," and Super Bowl MVP Foles held the Vince Lombardi Trophy aloft as fans chanted "Ea-gles, Ea-gles!"

Coach Doug Pederson got off the bus at one point to show the Lombardi Trophy to the crowds, allowing some to touch it.

At the end of the parade, Lurie, Pederson, Foles, Wentz and others gave traditional speeches about how the Eagles plan to do it again.

But Kelce stole the show with his oration, as reported by NFL.com.

First he offered a simple message to the critics and the doubters: "(Expletive) them!"

"Doug Pederson. When Doug Pederson was hired, he was rated as the worst coaching hire by a lot of freakin' analysts out there in the media. This past offseason, some clown named Mike Lombardi, told him that he was the least qualified head coach in the NFL. You saw a driven Doug Pederson. A man who went for it on fourth down. A man who went for it on fourth down in the Super Bowl with a trick play. He wasn't playing just to go mediocre. He was playing for a Super Bowl. And it don't stop with him. It does not stop with him."

A former football executive with the New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns, Lombardi is now a podcaster at The Ringer, and he tweeted the following response: "Look, I deserve what Kelce said, I was wrong and he is right."

Kelce was not done.

"Jason Peters was told he was too old. Didn't have it anymore. Before he got hurt, he was the freakin' tackle in the NFL," Kelce said. "Stefen Wisniewski ain't good enough. Jason Kelce is too small. Lane Johnson can't lay off the juice. Brandon Brooks hasn't done it. Carson Wentz didn't go to a Division I school. Nick Foles don't got it. Corey Clement is too slow. LeGarrette Blount ain't got it anymore. Jay Ajayi can't stay healthy. Torrey Smith can't catch. Nelson Agholor can't catch. Zach Ertz can't block. Brent Celek is too old. Brandon Graham was drafted too high. Vinny Curry ain't got it. Beau Allen can't fit the scheme. Nigel Bradham can't catch. Jalen Mills can't cover. Patrick Robinson can't cover. It's the whole team! It's the whole team!

"This entire organization was a bunch of driven men to accomplish something. We were a bunch of underdogs. And you know what an underdog is? It's a hungry dog. (Offensive line coach) Jeff Stoutland has had this in our building for five years. It's a quote in the O-line room that has stood on the wall for the last five years: Hungry dogs run faster. And that's this team. Bottom line is, we wanted it more."

The Eagles were underdogs in all three of their postseason games, including the Super Bowl, which they won 41-33 over the New England Patriots.

Not only was it the first Super Bowl win for the Eagles, but it was their first NFL title since 1960, when the league had just 13 teams.

Schools, museums, courts, government offices and the Philadelphia Zoo were shut down Thursday to allow the city to celebrate the event.

A total of 850 Port-A-Potties were set up along the route, and they might be needed with the beer available.

Bud Light offered free beer to fans at two dozen bars along the parade route. That was a result of a promise its brewer made to Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson before the season.

Philadelphia-based Yards Brewing also announced it would offer free Philly Pale Ale Thursday in the brewery's taproom.

Mayor Jim Kenney had asked fans to act responsibly while celebrating at the parade. Sunday's postgame celebration included some violence and vandalism.