NFL fans, especially those with a favored team, will venture through driving rains, frigid temperatures, and pelting snow to show their loyalty and support. For these fans, games won build into tidal waves of emotional triumph and shared victory. Losses, on the other hand, bring with them the wailing and gnashing of teeth that can cause grown men to break down and weep. Jeffrey Riegel, who recently died from cancer at age 56, was one of these adoring but perpetually heartbroken fans. His team: the Philadelphia Eagles. When Riegel knew his battle with cancer was coming to an unfortunate end, he took a final opportunity to take one last dig at his team. As a final wish, Riegel requested eight Eagles players to act as pallbearers at his funeral so that his team could “let him down one last time.” Although no Eagles players answered the call, the acting pallbearers at Riegel’s funeral donned Eagles jerseys to acquiesce to Riegel’s final wish.
See Dying Eagles Fan Requested Players as Pallbearers to ‘Let Him Down One Last Time’, Fox News, August 25, 2017.
