It’s a potent combination: intense passion plus relentless disappointment. That is what has shaped Philadelphia Eagles fans over the past 55 years.

Those fans were dubbed the “most hated” in the NFL by SI.com this week. That wasn’t all that surprising. And in a way, it’s almost a compliment. According to the SI piece, the “most hated” coach (Bill Belichick) and franchise (the New England Patriots) also happen to be the NFL’s most successful of this century.

If Eagles fans have distinguished themselves by annoying and offending opponents and their fans, then that is hardly an insult. It seems a little tired for SI’s Doug Farrar to open with a retelling of the 1968 incident in which Eagles fans booed Santa Claus.

But Farrar does get most of the story right. The Santa Claus in question, Frank Olivo, was a 19-year-old fan. He was asked to fill in when the original Santa Claus hired for the Eagles’ halftime show did not show up. Olivo was not a convincing Santa, but most of the fans’ ire was directed at a team that was effective on the field as it was at staging halftime entertainment.

Source: http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/po...ut-eagles-fans