 Franklin Field, the site of the game | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 15, 1968 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Franklin Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 54,530 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Jack Buck, Pat Summerall, and Bill McColgan | ||||||||||||||||||
The Philadelphia Eagles Santa Claus incident was an incident that occurred during halftime of an American football game in the 1968 season of the National Football League (NFL) between the visiting Minnesota Vikings and the Philadelphia Eagles. The game itself is referred to as The Santa Claus Game.
The incident occurred on December 15, 1968, in Week 14, at the time the final week of the NFL season, with the struggling Eagles sitting at 2–11 on the season. Tied 7–7 at halftime, the team brought out Santa Claus as part of the halftime Christmas parade; but Eagles fans upset by the poor season pelted him with snowballs.
The affair has gone down in NFL and sports lore as a representation of the passion, but also the outrageous behavior of Philadelphia sports fans.