The Mifflin County native certainly loves his wife, Victoria, but the couple spent Friday morning – Valentine’s Day – with an estimated one million fans, celebrating their beloved Eagles’ Super Bowl victory.

Standing many countless rows deep, fans lined the streets of Philadelphia for the Eagles’ championship parade as it wound through the City of Brotherly Love.

Walters, his wife and 2 1/2-year-old son, Luca, found a spot amongst the throngs and showed their amore for the Eagles, who trounced the Kansas City Chiefs to win Super Bowl LIX. They cheered as the players passed by their spot along the parade route.

“It was tons of fun, there was tons of confetti,” he said. “We were constantly doing the Eagles chant.”

Submitted photo
Zoe Heller (right) and her friend, Chloe Harvey hold up signs at the parade for the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday.

For Walters, Friday’s championship parade brought back memories of the 2018 Super Bowl, when the Eagles shocked the world and the mighty New England Patriots to win their first NFL crown.

Walters attended those festivities, walking a few blocks from his South Philadelphia home to watch the parade. He and his family did the same on Friday, walking about 10 minutes to the parade route.

This year’s parade kicked off around 11 a.m. Friday with a route beginning at Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, proceeding north toward the Philadelphia Museum of Art, passing along the west side of City Hall to John F. Kennedy Boulevard before taking 16th Street to the Benjamin Walters Parkway.

Afterwards, Eagles players and coaches gathered on a stage at the art museum’s famed “Rocky Steps.”

In 2018, that was the year (former Eagles player) Jason Kelce came on stage wearing a (Philadelphia) Mummers’ outfit,” Walters recalled. “Everyone was going crazy because he was wearing that outfit.”

Submitted photo
Scenes from the Eagles championship parade in Philadelphia on Friday.

While Walters said he was close enough to see the festivities, it was unusual for him to see the players in street clothes.

“It was hard to tell who they were because I’m used to seeing them with their helmets on,” Walters recalled. “I just remember it being a great atmosphere, there were tons of people and people were super happy, waving and cheering and doing the Eagles’ chant a million times.

“I think I still have video on my phone,” added Walters, who graduated from Lewistown Area High School in 2008 then Temple University in 2012. After that, he remained in Philadelphia.

Fast forward to 2025. And the revelry returned in full force.

The official visitor count from the 2018 event hovered around 700,000 – though organizers believe the number was double at 1.4 million. City officials predicted at least one million this year.

“It seemed like there were maybe more people there this year,” Walters said. “It was a big party atmosphere, but there were lots of families and kids. But it was a similar vibe to 2018.”

The Bay family, of Lewistown, traveled a few hours to take in the celebration. “It was an amazing experience,” Stephanie Bay remarked about watching the festivities and letting loose with one final Eagles’ cheer. “The amount of people that were there supporting their Super Bowl champs was unreal. Go Birds!”

Stephanie and her husband, Rob, brought children, Olivia, Braelyn, Myla and Jocelyn Sunderland.

Zoe Heller, who is originally from Lewistown but now lives in Ridley Park, Delaware County, also attended both parades for the Eagles’ championships. Celebrating a Super Bowl victory never gets old.

“The parade was fantastic,” Heller said. “I always love when you can see the city come together in celebration.

Players got to enjoy the moment, too. Appearing on numerous news broadcasts, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley was clearly overwhelmed by the fans’ turnout for the championship festivities.

“You can’t use words to describe this,” Barkley said to one reporter during the parade with confetti filling the air. “Every time I think Philly can’t take it to another level, they take it to another level. Me and my family are just happy to be a part of this organization and to be part of this city.

“This city deserves it all, and here we are,” Barkley added.

City officials implored parade attendees to behave and stay off the light poles. Following the Eagles’ NFC championship win, Temple student Tyler Sabapathy was killed after suffering injuries in a fall from a light pole, a death officials have called a tragedy.