For James Phillips' sake, the Eagles need to win the Super Bowl. Or his sacrifice was all for naught.
"They better win the Super Bowl after all I went through," Phillips said last night from his hospital bed, mopping the sweat from his brow with bandages that are wrapped around both of his hands. He said doctors have told him that they are going to have to cut off the tips of the pinky, ring and middle fingers on his left hand because of severe frostbite.
Phillips, of Marcus Hook, worked for 30 hours shoveling snow at Lincoln Financial Field the night before the Jan. 23 NFC championship game against the Falcons, and then, as a reward for his hard work, stayed to watch the game. And he did it all without wearing gloves.
"I'm kind of an Eagles aficionado, so I overlooked it," Phillips said. "My fanaticism for the Eagles is going to cost me something, but if I would have thought that it would be something like frostbite, I would have used precaution."
A representative for the Eagles was not available for comment last night.
Phillips, 48, was one of hundreds of adrenaline-pumped Eagles fans who braved the foot of snow that fell on the city that weekend to clean the field for fans and players.
Phillips said he heard a radio advertisement that the shovelers could earn $8.50 an hour. He said he didn't realize that he'd be invited to watch the game from the field.
"We live and die Eagles in this city. I mean, there were people on eBay paying $1,300 for those seats and I got to see it for free," Phillips said.
The temperature at game time was 17 degrees. After the game, Phillips rushed to a SEPTA bus on Broad Street with his right hand bleeding. He couldn't even pay his fare. He sat on the bus, using his left hand to catch the dripping blood. He saw a police officer at Broad and Cumberland Avenue and asked the officer to escort him to the hospital.
"I felt like someone locked me into a freezer," he said.
Now Phillips will be watching the Super Bowl from his bed at Temple University Hospital. He will have to fidget with a remote control or get a nurse to change the channel for him. But he still smiles when he romanticizes about who will be named most valuable player: McNabb, Owens or Westbrook.
"Fanaticism is something that takes on a whole different form," he said, shaking his head.
Contact staff writer Ira Porter at 215-854-2641 or iporter@phillynews.com.
