This New Mexico Eagles fan is an odd Bird in Cowboys country
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This season hasn't been like shooting fish in a barrel for the Eagles and their fans, like my good friend Steve. Photo: Courtesy of Steve Fernandez
New Mexicans are famous for asking one question: Red or green? It's actually the state's official question.
- My friend Steve Fernandez, the Land of Enchantment's biggest Eagles fan, answers without hesitation: Kelly green.
Why it matters: From the Schuylkill River to the Rio Grande, Birds lovers are trauma-bonding over their team's lousy start and the loss of Jalen Hurts.
Between the lines: New Mexico's state bird is the roadrunner, so Steve is an odd Bird roaming a place better known for Walter White's blue meth, green chile chicken enchiladas, adobe houses and an abiding allegiance to Dallas.
Catch up quick: To understand why a guy living nearly 2,000 miles from the Linc — in a village called Eagle Nest, of all places — bleeds Kelly green and nerds out on in-the-weeds team analysis, you have to go back to his childhood in Cowboys country.
- Steve inherited his fandom from his dad, who loved the actual bird and the team's colors, especially the Kelly green throwbacks of the "Gang Green" era.
- Growing up in Santa Fe, he was mercilessly mocked by classmates bragging about Dallas' Super Bowl hardware.
- Steve suffered through the Donovan McNabb-Andy Reid era, when the Eagles piled up wins but no rings.
"You'd go to school and there's Cowboys jerseys, backpacks, everything everywhere, and everyone's just happy," he says. "And I'm sad about my football team all the time."
Flashback: I remember Steve walking into Marron Hall, the Daily Lobo's campus newsroom, rocking a midnight-black Brian Dawkins jersey.
- He became more than my editor and mentor; almost overnight, he became one of my best friends, looking past my Cowboys allegiance and talking me out of quitting over a stupid newsroom disagreement.
- Steve's only Philly visit came in 2017, when he watched the Eagles destroy the Cardinals at the Linc during their first Super Bowl-winning season.
So, as bad news piled up for the Birds, my mind drifted toward Steve's welfare.
- A few years ago, Steve left his editing job at PR Newswire to become a fly-fishing guide in Eagle Nest, a mountain village with a smattering of bars and convenience stores.
- With New Mexico's fishing season over, Steve is subsisting on occasional weekend trips and Eagles football.
- "The only thing that honestly makes me feel normal in this tiny little mountain town, hidden from civilization, is when I turn on the Eagles games and just connect with my Eagles fan friends and family," he says.
The bottom line: And one more thing: Eating a W over Big D might be the closest Eagles fans get to a Super Bowl this year.
- "I'm not sitting on my bed crying. I'm fine," Steve says, almost coaching himself up. "I still get into it with Cowboys fans, and I hear, 'Yeah, you're still playing catch up. Five is still more than two.' That doesn't have remotely the same sting that five to zero had."
What we're watching: Beating the hated Cowboys on Monday night would keep the Eagles in the NFC East race and soothe a fan base reeling from four straight losses.