{"id":727997,"date":"2026-02-04T05:00:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T05:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/727997\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T05:00:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T05:00:32","slug":"philly-special-film-spotlights-super-bowl-play-that-embodies-the-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/727997\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Philly Special\u2019 film spotlights Super Bowl play that embodies the city"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 NFL Pro Bowl Games.<\/a><\/p>\n

Philadelphia Eagles fans will soon get to revisit one of the greatest sports moments in the city\u2019s history. A game-changing trick play in Super Bowl LII that resulted in quarterback Nick Foles snagging a touchdown reception lives on the memory of Philadelphians everywhere. It is the defining image of the Eagles\u2019 improbable run to their first Super Bowl championship.<\/p>\n

ESPN is set to release \u201cThe Philly Special\u201d on Friday, a new \u201c30 for 30\u201d documentary produced by NFL Films detailing the meaning behind the historic play. Almost eight years later, the play still has tremendous meaning to the City of Brotherly Love. It is in many ways a demonstration of Philadelphia\u2019s identity. The film features interviews with various prominent Philadelphia personalities, including retired WIP radio host Angelo Cataldi and the owners of Termini Brothers Bakery.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes Philadelphia gets a bad rap,\u201d said NFL Films co-director Shannon Furman. \u201cSo it was cool to be able to show where that personality comes from. That\u2019s why I think we included all the different fans to just really show the underdog spirit of the city and how it was so important to all these different walks of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The documentary, which is co-directed by Angela Zender, centers on the four players who touched the ball during the memorable play and their head coach. Six-time All-Pro center Jason Kelce, running back Corey Clement, tight end Trey Burton, Foles and coach Doug Pederson were all interviewed for the piece. Much of the film documents the group traveling around Philadelphia in a trolley, reminiscing on the 2018 season and the play itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like they could have talked about this for 10 days straight and not been bored,\u201d Furman said. \u201cThere are some scenes in the film that we were technically not even rolling, per se. They were just so excited to be back together talking, and we just said to our camera people, \u2018Just go shoot this.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cPhilly Special\u201d play captures the spirit Furman and Zender aim to convey about Philadelphia. Burton and Clement were undrafted players, most notable for their involvement in this play. Kelce was a sixth-round draft pick who evolved into a future Hall of Famer. Foles had only received an opportunity thanks to Carson Wentz\u2019 injury, and had been traded away from Philadelphia just three years prior. Pederson was a career backup quarterback. It made the choice to feature the group easy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll five of those guys are underdogs in their own way,\u201d Zender said. \u201cTheir stories are so rich that we really wanted to go deep with those five guys and just tell it from a different perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout the filming process, the directors spent time all over the city, looking to capture the unique personalities of its various communities. The unifying force is often the Philadelphia sports landscape. It provides something to rally around.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhilly is a city of neighborhoods, and we wanted to represent each neighborhood,\u201d Zender said. \u201cWe went to South Philly, and that\u2019s where we did our cheesesteak shoot. And then we went to the Italian market. We did Termini Brothers. And we also went to the Jersey Shore. We just wanted to try to get a variety of different voices to help tell the story of the play and what it meant to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Philadelphia, the memory of the play is just as poignant now. It is commemorated by murals around the city, as well as T-shirts and fans\u2019 tattoos. Zender and Furman were blown away at Philadelphians\u2019 ability to recall the Xs and Os of the trick play.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe brought diagrams with us just in case,\u201d Furman said. \u201cBut I mean, the Termini Brothers, those guys knew everything. I didn\u2019t really even need to direct them. They were experts on everything. And even just people had seen our clips. \u2026 It was kind of crazy to see that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The vivid recollections of the play speak to the broader meaning of the Eagles\u2019 Super Bowl win. It was a victory for a city where life isn\u2019t always simple.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember having a conversation with one of my co-workers about it,\u201d Zender said. \u201cShe was talking about it like, there are big moments in your life that you remember, and that was one for her. A seminal moment in her life was that play. We just really wanted to go around and make sure people understood how much that team meant to the city, how much that Super Bowl win meant to the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the city\u2019s residents, the win is not only meaningful because it marked the Eagles\u2019 first Super Bowl title. It was also the victory over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, winners of five prior Super Bowls and clear favorites entering the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s David versus Goliath,\u201d Zander said. \u201cI think when you can achieve what people think is impossible, it\u2019s inspirational. I hope that\u2019s something that not only fans in Philadelphia can appreciate, but fans across the country can appreciate that universal message of the underdog spirit, of what it means to overcome something in the face of long odds.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Philly Special\u201d airs at 9 p.m. ET Friday on ESPN and the ESPN app.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 NFL Pro Bowl Games. Philadelphia Eagles fans will soon get…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":727998,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2068],"tags":[25,7,6,242,109,2476,156],"class_list":{"0":"post-727997","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-eagles","8":"tag-eagles","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-philadelphia","12":"tag-philadelphia-eagles","13":"tag-philadelphiaeagles","14":"tag-sports-business"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116010603353941508","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=727997"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/727997\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/727998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=727997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=727997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=727997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}