49ers Fans Just Couldn’t Learn from Sins of Vikings

Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports.

It’s NFC Championship week, and the Philadelphia Eagles will host the San Francisco 49ers with a Super Bowl berth on the line this Sunday.

And the last time Philadelphia hosted a conference title game, it steamrolled the Minnesota Vikings, 38-7. Two days before the event, it appears that 49ers fans or a single rogue enthusiast are recreating sins from Vikings past.

49ers Fans Just Couldn’t Learn from Sins of Vikings

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DiBirds Blog, an Eagles-themed website, posted this picture to Twitter Friday, and unless the photo is staged or fabricated, San Francisco fans put 49ers apparel on Phildalephia’s beloved Rocky statue.

49ers Fans just
The Rocky Statue in Philadelphia apparently accessorized by 49ers fans. The Eagles hosted the 49ers in the 2022 NFC Championship. Image Courtesy of @DiBirdsBlog on Twitter.

The Eagles are 2.5-point favorites to defeat the 49ers — pretty standard homefield advantage points via the spread — and advance to their second Super Bowl in six seasons.

The “problem” for the 49ers is that Vikings fans basically did this same thing with the Rocky statue — and it blew up in their face, losing to Nick Foles and the Eagles five years ago. One might wonder if 49ers fans did not know this or simply didn’t care.

Vikings Fans decorating the Rocky statue in January 2018. The Eagles later defeated the Vikings by a score of 38-7 in the 2017 NFC Championship.. Image Courtesy of @6ABC on Twitter.

Social media users were quick to reminisce on the 2017 NFC Championship when the Eagles exacted swift revenge for the stunt. @TheSonicFan24 or Nathan D on Twitter commented, “Last week we had 38-7. This week we have this. I’m getting a lot of reminders for 2017’s NFCCG, and we all know how that went.”

@MasterHowie or Christian Schultz tweeted in response, “I remember some fanbase tried this around 5 years ago and then got their face punched in during the game 38-7.”

Is History Repeating Itself for Vikings?
Eagles Quarterback Nick Foles following the NFC divisional playoff football game between the New Orleans Saints and the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Jan. 13, 2019 in New Orleans.. © SCOTT CLAUSE/USA TODAY Network.

The Eagles dominated the NFC in the regular season, stumbled a bit down the stretch when QB1 Jalen Hurts was injured, and now look to edge the 49ers for a chance at all the marbles. The 2022 Philadelphia team really has no weaknesses. Meanwhile, the 49ers have won 12 straight games, including playoffs, totally changing their season after the Christian McCaffrey trade. San Francisco lost its first game with McCaffrey in the lineup against the Kansas City Chiefs — those Chiefs are also playing football this weekend, too — but haven’t lost since.

To fuel the fire even more — at least from a social media standpoint — this doctored movie posted circulated social media late this week and is in the same vein as the tatted Rocky statute.

Image Courtesy of @slayden44 on Twitter

Brock Purdy took over for injured San Francisco passers Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo in Week 13, and his team has won eight straight games. Win or lose, Purdy has likely done enough to secure QB1 duties in 2023, although Lance may object.

The 49ers and Eagles have played just once in postseason history, with San Francisco as the victor in 1996 by a score of 14-0.


Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).

All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.