“I was just speechless throughout the whole thing,” Peni said.
“It was one of those things – I just shared the post online to see what would happen. You never really think that you’ll ever win these competitions.”
Eagles fandom runs deep in New Zealand
So, what’s it like being an Eagles fan in New Zealand?
Peni explained it simply.
“It’s one of those things – you just have to set your alarm, get up, and watch the game.”
Peni typically gets out of bed around 5 AM on gameday – that’s when he’s able to stream the Eagles on NFL Game Pass. He doesn’t want to miss a moment of the action, so he makes sure in advance that his work schedule won’t interfere.
“Everyone at work knows that I’m pretty hardcore into my football, so they’ll either allow me to do shift swaps or cover my shifts while I watch the game and whatnot,” Peni said.
Before NFL Game Pass was introduced, it wasn’t as easy to follow Eagles news closely as it is now. Peni recalls waiting patiently for YouTube highlights to be uploaded so he could watch the best plays of the game.
And before YouTube, he’d often race into school, loading the game’s results on the desktop computers at the first moment he was able to, enduring painstakingly long moments while the score slowly appeared on the screen.
“We didn’t even have the internet. I didn’t have a computer at home, so it wasn’t until I went to school that I’d be able to load the score,” said Peni.
“My best friend, Rich, I’ve got to give him a huge shoutout. He’s the one that had all the tech gear – I’d go over to his house, we’d play Madden, we’d watch some highlights on YouTube. It was just a lot of YouTube really back then,” Peni said.
Sunday won’t require an old computer or an early wake-up call (though Eagles fans will likely be sleepless in anticipation regardless.)
Peni will have a short commute to State Farm Stadium, where he’ll watch the Eagles finally take the field.
Alongside him will be his wife – he says sharing the moment with her makes it that much more special. Football is a shared interest that brought them together.
“It’s a real niche thing to enjoy football here in New Zealand. When I found out that she was kind of into it, that was kind of one of the things that kind of stood out in the conversation,” said Peni, reflecting on meeting her.
She grew up a 49ers fan, and his team had to defeat hers in the NFC Championship Game to make it to Arizona. Rivalry aside, she’s grown to appreciate her husband’s affinity for the Eagles. During their…
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