Imagine winning season tickets to watch your favorite professional football team play for the next decade. That’s a dream many fans have but it’s a reality for Philadelphia Eagles super fan, Matt MacMillan.
The Philadelphia native, who now lives in South Jersey, grew up a diehard Eagles fan. The team recently honored his fandom by giving him four Eagles season tickets for the next 10 years.
It was the Eagles’ way of honoring MacMillan, who was one of three finalists in the NFL’s “Tickets for 100 Years” promotion, a contest that offered season tickets for the next century to a winning fan’s preferred team. The promotion was the first in a series of fan experiences to kick off the league’s 100th season.
MacMillan entered the promotion last spring by making social media posts that described why he was the Eagles’ biggest fan of the century. His submission video detailed his commitment to the birds.
For example, a few years ago when he and wife went on vacation in Jamaica, she was at the pool and he was in the computer lab for three hours watching the Eagles play. Each year for the past five years, he and his friends have traveled to an away game to cheer on their team.
He’s also got all kinds of team swag, from sweatshirts, to shirts, to shoes, and even a cross stitch.
Family tradition
Eagles football is a family tradition for MacMillan, who grew up cheering for the team alongside his grandfather, father, and brothers. Now he’s sharing that football passion with his wife Alyssa and their two children: Ella, 3, and Ryan, 1. He’s even teaching his kids to boo the Dallas Cowboys.
MacMillan had fun creating his video and going along with all the publicity that followed.
He shot a video with the NFL, then did media interviews, including radio shows and a draft day appearance on “Good Morning America,” where he appeared alongside fellow finalists from the New York Giants and Detroit Lions (the Giants fan won the 100-year grand prize).
The NFL flew MacMillan and his family to Nashville for the 2019 NFL Draft, where they met Eagles second-round pick Miles Sanders and participated in red carpet events.
While attending Day 3 of the draft, MacMillan and his family toured the NovaCare Complex and got to hold the Lombardi trophy.
He then found out about the tickets he had won when the Eagles asked him to record a promo featuring his reaction. “That is awesome,” he said. “That is amazing.”
Super fan
While MacMillan, who wore an Eagles blazer to the draft, didn’t win the big prize, his video did get the attention of his team. The Eagles are thankful for their super fan.
“His dedication and support of the Philadelphia Eagles are always on display, and his passion is infectious,” said Eagles president Don Smolenski. “We wanted to take this opportunity to reward Matt and his family for their generational fandom, and thank them for being such incredible stewards of Eagle pride.”
Now MacMillan is looking forward to spending the next decade — and beyond — cheering on his team.
“Being able to go to every home game is going to be amazing,” said MacMillan, whose favorite Eagle is former safety Brian Dawkins, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year.
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