Eagles running back Leonard Weaver has played just one regular-season game at Lincoln Financial Field and was wearing the uniform of the Seattle Seahawks at the time. He found it a memorable experience.
"I was getting spit at, thrown at, stuff like that. They were kind of giving it to us," Weaver said.
He did say it approvingly, however, particularly since he'll be wearing the proper laundry when he steps back onto this field for today's home opener against the New Orleans Saints.
"I can't wait," he said.
For the sellout crowd of 69,144, it's been a long wait since last December, when the home schedule ended with a win over Dallas that made possible a long-shot postseason berth.
Usually for better, sometimes for worse, the atmosphere at an Eagles home game can have some effect on the outcome. Not always and not a lot, but the home field does matter.
"It's important to get the home crowd on your side," cornerback Sheldon Brown said. "We understand in the locker room at the end of the day that it doesn't kill you if they aren't, but it is important to have them behind us 100 percent."
That's the way the game will start, anyway. The Eagles are coming off a big win in the season opener and, despite the injury to Donovan McNabb - because of it for some fans - the anticipation for today's showdown with the Saints is high.
"I know our fans will be as crazy as ever," Andy Reid said after practice Friday. "That will be a big thing. The louder it is, the better is."
Since Lincoln Financial Field opened in 2003, the Eagles have a 30-18 home record in the regular season. That's the fifth-best record in the conference during that span. Home openers haven't gone as well. The Eagles are 3-3 in their first regular-season games at the Linc.
Getting off to a good, quick start to the season hasn't been easy for the Eagles under Reid. If they can get past the Saints today, however, with untested Kevin Kolb at quarterback, they have a legitimate shot at a 5-0 start before the schedule gets tougher.
But getting past the Saints will be a lot easier with a quick start to the game, something that will keep the crowd happy.
"We've got to come out hot and make a statement. I really think our crowd can help you make that statement," linebacker Chris Gocong said. "That's Philly. For the guys who haven't experienced it, seriously, it is different, and they let you know about it."
There are some competitive advantages, aside from the psychological ones, to being at home, particularly in this home. When the crowd is raucous as the other team is trying to run its offense, and respectful of the home team's signal-calling, that always helps.
"When you have to go with a silent count, you're looking at the center," offensive tackle Winston Justice said. "When you're at home and you just listen to the cadence, then you can actually look at the defense, and that helps you prepare mentally for the play."
Lincoln Financial Field doesn't have, and will never have, the same reputation for hostility that belonged to Veterans Stadium, but much of that had little to do with the fans themselves. The sound from the stands was a little louder because the stadium was enclosed and not open at either end. And the fact that the facility was so harsh itself, that the turf for most of those years was merely green, fuzzy concrete, that rodents and feral cats chased each other around the locker room corridors, all of that also added to the aura of the Vet.
Some things haven't changed. Fans wearing the uniform of the opposing teams are still hassled, and there is the occasional fight. Visiting players, as Weaver recalled, are still welcomed in traditional fashion. From a football standpoint, if players think the environment has a bearing on the outcome, then it does.
"Oh, that perception matters," said defensive end Darren Howard, who played one game here with the Saints. "Any edge you can get out there, you feed off, especially in this league where the talent from team to team is so even. The smallest thing, something you might never think would be an advantage, that can help, too."
It could help today. It could help rattle Drew Brees or at least disrupt his timing. It could make the Saints look forward to getting off the field and getting to the locker room. Or, if things aren't going so well, it could take a U-turn.
"It does put more pressure on us to come out and play well, but, home or road, you have to execute," center Jamaal Jackson said. "We know our fans are going to be crazy. They might even be drunk. But we need 'em on Sunday."
That would be today, and for the seventh season in Lincoln Financial Field, for the 49th season since the team's last championship, they will return again. Whether the Eagles are ready or not, the fans will be.
Home Made
There's no place like home openers for Andy Reid, who has a dismal 4-6 record, including 3-3 at Lincoln Financial Field.
Reid's regular-season record at the Linc is 30-18, fifth best in the conference from 2003-2008.
Here's the top five.
1. Seattle 35-13 .729
2. Chicago 31-17 .646
3. Dallas 31-17 .646
4. Minnesota 31-17 .646
5. EAGLES 30-18 .625
Contact columnist Bob Ford at 215-854-5842 or bford@phillynews.com. Read his blog at http://philly.com/postpatterns.
