Members of the public in Norristown are demanding answers after a police cruiser responding to a 911 call Wednesday morning struck a naked man standing in an intersection.
The incident, captured on video, shows a police SUV apparently accelerating toward the man, who was standing on the road with other vehicles stopped around him. After being hit by the car, the man flies several feet in the air and hits the pavement. Police then rush out of the vehicle and surround the man.
Norristown police said one officer has been put on paid administrative leave while the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office investigates the matter.
Police have not released the name the officer or the victim. District Attorney’s office spokesperson Kate Delano confirmed that the man is alive, but declined to provide further details.
It’s a potential test for Norristown Police Chief Mike Trail, who has been on the job just about six months and is the fourth police chief to lead the agency in four years.
Trail took questions from community members at a public meeting Thursday. He said he wouldn’t be able to provide some details because they were part of the investigation, saying “my role here is to listen to you here tonight.”
Many of those questions centered on what residents who had seen the video perceived as the police officer’s decision to ram into the man.
Several people asked Trail whether agency policy ever would allow for a police officer to strike someone with a vehicle. Another speaker said she heard the car strike the man from her home.
Responding to questions, Trail pledged to make the police agency’s policies available to the public. He said he wants to initiate a mental health co-responder program, which would pair police officers with mental health experts trained to de-escalate situations.
“People experiencing mental health behavioral episodes are more likely to be victims of, to be subject to use of force by responding law enforcement officers because they lack the tools and the sophisticated training necessary to de-escalate.”
But according to Heather Lewis, who leads the Reuniting Family Bail Fund in Norristown, local police should already know how to work safely with people dealing with mental health issues.
SAN FRANCISCO — Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald headlined the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class featuring five players but not six-time Super Bowl winning head coach Bill Belichick.
Brees and Fitzgerald both made it in their first year of eligibility in results announced at NFL Honors on Thursday night after prolific careers. Luke Kuechly and Adam Vinatieri made it in their second seasons of eligibility, while Roger Craig was the lone pick among seniors, coaches and contributors.
“One of the coolest moments was getting up on that stage with all the other Hall of Famers,” Fitzgerald said. “That moment kind of crystallized it for me.”
But the class is also noteworthy for Belichick’s absence as at least 11 of the 50 voters opted against giving him a vote despite a career with 333 wins in the regular season and playoffs and the most Super Bowl titles of any head coach. A report last week that Belichick fell short in his first year of eligibility was met with widespread criticism of both the voters and the process for choosing Hall of Famers.
“His stats speak for themselves,” said Vinatieri, who played six years for Belichick.
“I thought he’d have a real good chance to be up there as well. The people who voted made their votes and I think he’ll be up here one day.”
The man who hired Belichick in New England to set the stage for the Patriots dynasty also fell short, with owner Robert Kraft failing to get enough votes.
This is the second straight year with a smaller class after only four people made it last year as new rule changes have made it harder to get into the Hall. There had been at least seven people inducted in the previous 12 classes before last year.
That contributed to the snub for Belichick and Kraft, who were grouped with Craig and two other players — Ken Anderson and L.C. Greenwood — who have been retired for at least 25 seasons. The voters picked three of the five candidates with the highest vote-getter and anyone else above 80% getting the honor.
Craig, who was in his 28th year of eligibility, was the only one of those five to make it. Craig was the first player ever to have 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving in the same season, which happened in 1985, and he led the NFL with 2,036 yards from scrimmage in 1988 when he helped San Francisco win the Super Bowl.
Craig also was part of the title-winning teams for the 49ers in the 1984 and 1989 seasons. His 410 yards from scrimmage in those Super Bowl wins are the third-most ever behind Hall of Famers Jerry Rice and Franco Harris.
The four modern-era candidates all overlapped for several years, waging many battles against each other.
“Very early on you realized there was something special and unique about these guys,” Brees said.
Vinatieri was one of the most clutch kickers in NFL history, making the game-winning field goals in the first two Super Bowl victories during New England’s dynasty with Belichick and Kraft in charge. He joined Jan Stenerud and Morten Andersen as the only players in the Hall who were primarily kickers in their careers.
Vinatieri helped launch the run with one of the game’s greatest kicks — a 45-yarder in the snow to force overtime in the “Tuck Rule” game against the Raiders in the 2001 divisional round. He made the game-winning kick in OT to win that game and then hit a 48-yarder on the final play of a 20-17 win in the Super Bowl against the Rams.
Vinatieri is the NFL’s career leader in points (2,673) and made field goals (599) over a 24-year career with New England and Indianapolis. He also leads all players with 56 field goals and 238 points in the postseason.
Brees is second all time to Tom Brady with 80,358 yards passing and 571 touchdown passes. He spent the first five seasons of his career with the San Diego Chargers before signing as a free agent with the Saints in 2006, where his career took off as he helped lift a city still recovering from Hurricane Katrina.
Brees delivered to New Orleans its first Super Bowl title following the 2009 season, when he won MVP of the game after beating Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. Brees made the Pro Bowl 13 times in his career, won AP Offensive Player of the Year in 2008 and 2011, was an All-Pro in 2006 and was a second-team All-Pro four times.
Fitzgerald spent his entire career with the Arizona Cardinals after being drafted third overall in 2004. His 1,432 catches and 17,492 yards receiving in 17 seasons rank second all time to Jerry Rice.
Fitzgerald topped 1,000 yards receiving nine times — tied for the fourth-most ever — and helped the Cardinals reach their only Super Bowl following the 2008 season. Fitzgerald set single-season records that postseason with 546 yards receiving and seven TD catches, including a go-ahead 64-yard score with 2:37 to play in the Super Bowl before Pittsburgh rallied for a 27-23 win over Arizona.
Kuechly’s career was brief but impactful. The first-round pick by Carolina in 2012 was an All-Pro five times, with seven Pro Bowl nods and a Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Over his eight-year career, Kuechly led all linebackers in the NFL in tackles (1,090), takeaways (26), interceptions (18) and passes defensed (66).
Voters reduced the list of 15 finalists in the modern era category to 10 and then seven before voting for five to make it. The top three vote-getters and anyone else above 80% got into the Hall.
Offensive linemen Willie Anderson and Marshal Yanda, and edge rusher Terrell Suggs made it to the final seven in the modern-era category and will automatically be finalists again next year.
Gov. Josh Shapiro blasted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Friday for buyinga Berks County warehouse that may be used to detain people.
“I’m strongly opposed to the purchase,” Shapiro said after speaking at an event at the Steamfitters Local 420 in Northeast Philadelphia.
Shapiro said the facility is “not what we need anywhere in Pennsylvania,” adding that he was not alerted ahead of time of ICE’s $87 million acquisition of the warehouse on 64 acres in Upper Bern Township.
“The secretive way the federal government went about this undermines trust,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro has grown increasingly vocal in his criticism of ICE and President Donald Trump in recent weeks as he’s toured the East Coast promoting his new memoir. In addition to voicing his opposition to the warehouse, Shapiro criticized Trump for sharing a racist video attacking former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama.
The Democratic governor, who is widely seen as a contender for the White House in 2028, is in the midst of a reelection campaign against Trump-endorsed Republican Stacy Garrity, who has urged cooperation with ICE.
He said the commonwealth is exploring “what legal options we may have to stop” the ICE procurement, but he acknowledged “those options are very slim, given that the federal government is the purchaser.”
Shapiro told this audience of union workers and apprentices that the Berks County building would be better used for economic development.
At the same event, Shapiro announced a new $3 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant to expand the Steamfitters Local Union 420 Training Center, which he said would help “train the next generation of workers.”
Shapiro criticizes Trump over racist anti-Obama video
Duringthe union hall event, Shapiro also leveled criticism at the Trump administration for sharing on social media a racist video depicting Obama, the first Black president, and his wife, as apes.
When asked for a reaction, Shapiro said, “I actually agree with [Republican] Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina that it’s racist.”
Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, called the video “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House,” after Trump shared it to his Truth Social account Thursday evening.
Shapiro said thatTrump “seems to always find a lower and lower common denominator. We’re not going to get sucked down into the depths that this president seems to reach for each day.”
Trump took down the video early Friday afternoon.
The governor also strongly chided Trump for recently saying the federal government should be in charge of elections.
Specifically, Trump named Philadelphia, along with Detroit and Atlanta, as cities where the federal government should step in to run elections. The predominantly Black cities are in swing states and have long been targeted with Trump’s false claims of voter fraud.
“The president of the United States doesn’t run our elections,” said Shapiro. “County officials run our elections, Republican and Democrat alike.”
“We’re not going to have interference from the White House,” added the governor, who served as attorney general when Trump tried to overturn Pennsylvania’s election results in 2020.
WASHINGTON — A man Justice Department officials described as a key participant in the 2012 attack that killed a U.S. ambassador and three other Americans in Benghazi, Libya, was taken into U.S. custody Friday and will face prosecution.
Zubayar al-Bakoush was arrested in an undisclosed country and flown to an airfield near Washington, where he arrived just after 3 a.m. Friday, Attorney General Pam Bondi said. He faces an eight-count indictment on charges including murder, terrorism and arson.
Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel declined at a news conference to answer questions about where al-Bakoush was arrested and whether the operation that brought him into custody involved the assistance of foreign nations.
“We have never stopped seeking justice for that crime against our nation,” Bondi said.
In the Sept. 11, 2012, attack, at least 20 militants, armed with AK-47s and grenade launchers, stormed the U.S. mission in Benghazi, breaching its gates, forcing their way into offices and setting buildings ablaze. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, State Department employee Sean Smith and CIA contractors Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty were killed. Stevens was the first U.S. ambassador slain while performing his duties abroad in nearly four decades
Almost immediately, the incident became a subject for partisan finger-pointing, with Republican lawmakers faulting the Obama administration and especially then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for alleged security failures at the facility and what they described as a slow response to the violence. References to Benghazi — nearly 14 years later — remain a potent point of political division.
Even as they announced al-Bakoush’s arrest Friday, Justice Department officials seized the opportunity to swipe at frequent Republican targets, renew old lines of attack, and credit President Donald Trump.
“Hillary Clinton famously once said about Benghazi, ‘What difference, at this point, does it make?’” Bondi said, referring to an irritated response Clinton gave during a 2013 Senate hearing at which she was repeatedly pressed about the motive for the attack.
“Well, it makes a difference to Donald Trump,” Bondi continued. “It makes a difference to those families and 14 years later, it makes a difference to law enforcement who made the difference in this case.”
A Republican-led congressional investigation into the incident later found no evidence of wrongdoing by Clinton, though it faulted the Obama administration more broadly for being slow to respond after the militants breached the gates.
Jeanine Pirro, the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney in Washington whose office is overseeing the prosecution, made reference to that frequent Republican criticism in her remarks Friday about al-Bakoush’s arrest.
In her prior role as a Fox News host, Pirro frequently waded into the debate over Benghazi, at one point accusing then-FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III of orchestrating a cover-up to protect administration officials.
“For 13 hours, the American cavalry never came,” she said Friday. “For 13, hours [the victims] waited for that help that never came.
Democrats have defended their efforts to prosecute individuals tied to the deaths of Stevens and the others, noting that the Justice Department had by late 2013 filed sealed complaints against roughly a dozen overseas militants accused of playing a role in the attack.
Pirro acknowledged Friday that the complaint that led to al-Bakoush’s arrest was first filed in 2015, during the final year of the Obama administration.
Court filings unsealed Friday described al-Bakoush as a member of an extremist Libyan militia who was identified by a cooperating FBI witness as one of the attackers caught on surveillance footage from the compound. Agents described footage showing al-Bakoush, with a firearm slung over his shoulder, attempting to break into cars of U.S. service members and following the crowd into buildings where Stephens and others were killed.
Al-Bakoush is the third man law enforcement officials have brought to the U.S. to face charges.
A federal jury in Washington in 2017 convicted Ahmed Abu Khattala, a Libyan militia leader and the accused mastermind behind the attack, on conspiracy and terrorism charges tied to the incident. A second militant, Mustafa al-Imam, was found guilty on similar charges in 2019. Both men were sentenced to prison terms of more than a decade.
“Time will not stop us from going after these predators, no matter how long it takes, to fulfill our obligation to those families who suffered horrific pain at the hands of these violent terrorists,” Pirro said.
Sonder, the buzzy short-term rental company, is no more. But some of its former properties across Philadelphia are taking on new lives.
At least three of Philly’s last five Sonder properties have new ownership and have already reopened or are about to as boutique short-term rentals.
The former competitor with Airbnb and Vrbo touted modern “apartment-style hotels” nationwide. In November, when Sonder announced that it was closing, citing “severe financial constraints,” it marked a chance for local and national operators to swoop in and snag desirable properties.
As first reported by the Philadelphia Business Journal, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts partnered with the hospitality company Reside to reopen the Sonder property at 325 N. 13th St.in Callowhill in January. The 96-unit building is now called Heid Lofts by Reside.
The Queen Hotel at 628 S. Fifth St.in Queen Village is now being managed by Sosuite, a Philly-based short-term rental company that has taken over other previous PhillySonder properties over the years. The 30-unit property reopened under Sosuite in November.
The Edison at 312 N. Second St. in Old City is working to reopen as a 24-unit rental property in the coming weeks under operator PHL Stays, the Business Journal reported. The company is run by Jake Tovey, who operates a similar business in Pittsburgh called Pittsburgh Furnished Rentals.
As for the remaining former Sonder haunts, The Arco at 1234 Locust St. in Midtown Village is still closed, while the Witherspoon Building at 130 S. Juniper St. in Center City is pivoting to become a traditional apartment building with a mix of 186 studio and multi-family units.
A skill game industry executive who took kickbacks from illegal gambling machine operators throughout Pennsylvania pleaded guilty this week in Cumberland County to money laundering.
Ricky Goodling, an ex-state police corporal and former national compliance director for Pace-O-Matic, contributed to the “disorganized and problematic” skill game market when he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for quashing complaints about illegal gaming machines, Attorney General Dave Sunday said in a statement.
Goodling, 59, of Mechanicsburg, also pleaded guilty in federal court to evading more than $100,000 in taxes after falsely claiming the proceeds of the scheme were business travel expenses, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Harrisburg.
An attorney listed for Goodling in court records declined to comment.
Pace-O-Matic said in a statement that it was “deeply troubled” by Goodling’s guilty plea. “We are also troubled to know that he violated our trust and intentionally harmed our business interests,” the statement reads.
According to Pace-O-Matic’s statement, law enforcement has assured the company that it is “not involved in or connected with any of the actions of Mr. Goodling, and they have characterized Pace-O-Matic as a victim of these crimes.” The company terminated Goodling’s employment in November 2023 when it learned of the investigation.
The powerful and controversial skill game industry has operated largely by its own rules in Pennsylvania for more than a decade, allowing the slot machinelike devices to proliferate in bars and gas stations across the commonwealth.
Skill games operate in a legal gray area: Courts have ruled that the so-called skill component distinguishes them from games of chance, like slot machines. The state Supreme Court is now weighing the machines’ lawfulness.
The biggest player in the skill games market, Georgia-based Pace-O-Matic, has claimed for years that its machines are the only “legal” skill games — and spent millions of dollars on campaigns and lobbying for favorable regulation and lower tax rates.
While some lawmakers want to ban the machines outright, arguing they attract crime and can be addictive, others see it as a potential new revenue stream. Last year, Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed taxing the machines at 52%, which the industry quickly rejected. In his latest budget, the governor said that regulating skill games, coupled with legalizing cannabis, could generate $2 billion annually.
Illegal gambling enterprises have sought to commingle their machines with Pace-O-Matic’s legal games, in an attempt to give their products a veneer of legitimacy and deflect law enforcement scrutiny, according to an October 2024 state grand jury presentment. Goodling acted as their ally, facilitated straw purchases of Pace-O-Matic games, and laundered the money through a fictitious company, prosecutors said.
Goodling is scheduled to be sentenced April 28 in the state case.
Ever since that touchdown helped the Eagles beat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII, it’s fascinated Eagles fans — the lore, the backstory, and, of course, the confetti that followed. There have been T-shirts and murals designed to commemorate the play, food specials named after the moment, and a number of tattoos inspired by the event that now decorate the bodies of Eagles fans from all over.
“I don’t know of any other play that people have tattooed up and down their bodies,” former Eagles center Jason Kelce says in ESPN’s new 30 for 30 documentary about the Birds’ first Super Bowl win. “I was in a stadium in Chicago, and a cook raised his sleeve and had the Philly Special X’s and O’s tattooed on his forearm. This is in the Bears’ stadium.”
Now, fans will get a new look behind the play and the people who made it happen in The Philly Special, which premieres at 9 p.m. Friday. The iconic moment, which helped an underdog Eagles team bring the Lombardi Trophy to the city for the first time in franchise history, is told through the eyes of the five men involved — Kelce, Corey Clement, Trey Burton, Nick Foles, and Doug Pederson.
“My wife and I sat down and watched it, and I’m not going to lie, it brought me to tears,” Pederson, the former Eagles coach, said on 94 WIP on Wednesday, the eighth anniversary of the play. “I really felt like they did an outstanding job to me catching sort of the essence and the spirit of Philadelphia, the city, the fans, the passion.”
Helping bring the city to life during the hourlong documentary was Shannon Furman, who grew up in South Jersey and is based in Marlton. Furman, a Penn State graduate, was one of the film’s directors, along with Angela Zender.
Although the play is central to the film, its story begins much earlier. It briefly follows each of the five central characters’ journeys to Super Bowl LII, from the moment they were drafted (or in some cases weren’t) to the moment the Philly Special was called at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
While taking a trolley ride through town, with stops at various Philly landmarks, Pederson, Foles, Kelce, Clement, and Burton discuss their first impressions of the city, while Kelce also finds a way to take a shot at Dallas in the process.
“When I got drafted, my agent said, ‘You know, Jason, you’re going to love Philadelphia. It’s got a great spirit to it. I think you’ll fit in pretty well,’” Kelce said. “There’s a humbleness to it. There’s a cockiness to it. A city that was born on the back of blue-collar workers and manufacturing. Stetson hat factory. To all you Cowboys fans, you think cowboy hats is a [expletive] Texas thing. That was created in Philadelphia. So, [expletive] you guys.”
Kelce may have received promising advice from his agent, but Foles was issued a stern warning by former Eagles head coach Andy Reid. He remembers a conversation he had with Reid as a rookie, not long after he was selected by the Birds in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft.
Andy Reid and Nick Foles during the 2012 season.
“I had a sit down with Andy Reid,” Foles said. “I remember he asked me poignantly, ‘Do you have faith or believe in anything?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m a Christian.’ He said ‘All right, you’re going to need that, because this city has torn grown men apart.’”
Some of that “tearing grown men apart” happens on the radio. Burton, the former Eagles tight end who threw the touchdown pass on the Philly Special, recognized that early.
“I remember my first day in Philly,” Burton said. “My cousin picked me up, and he had the WIP radio [station] on. I was like, ‘What is this?’ People calling in from all over the place, talking crazy.”
For Clement, meanwhile, it was a dream to sign with his hometown team. The former Eagles running back, who grew up in Glassboro, remembers telling the team he would be at the facility “in an hour.” Pederson also was familiar with the city, having played for the Eagles (1999) and been an assistant (2009 to 2012) before becoming head coach (2016 to 2020).
“The Philadelphia hiring for me was a whirlwind of emotion,” Pederson said. “You’re a little bit scared in a way because it’s such a big step. I played here. You know the city, you know the fan base, you know exactly what you’re getting into. You’re not going to make everybody happy. You just settle in and you realize, ‘Hey, this is what you’ve been preparing yourself for.’”
The Eagles’ 2017 season was a whirlwind. The team got off to a 10-2 start behind Carson Wentz before the second-year quarterback and MVP favorite tore his ACL in the team’s Week 14 win over the Los Angeles Rams. With their Pro Bowl quarterback injured, Foles was forced into action.
During one of the group’s stops, Foles asked Pederson and Kelce what their confidence level was like with him stepping in.
“Season’s done,” Pederson said jokingly. “I started believing the media.”
Kelce interjected: “Me and a few guys that had been there for the Chip [Kelly] years with Nick; felt confident that Nick could play really well. We had seen it before.”
Eagles offensive lineman Lane Johnson dons a dog mask as he walks off the field after the team’s 15-10 divisional round playoff win over the Atlanta Falcons in 2018.
With the loss of Wentz, those outside the organization started to count the Eagles out. And that underdog mentality fueled the Eagles, who had printouts of media rankings hanging all over the facility, including in the bathroom, and donned dog masks throughout the playoffs.
But Kelce, Foles, Clement, and Burton were used to being underdogs. It was part of the documentary Furman wishes she had more time to tell.
“I wish we could have really gotten into everyone’s backstory a little bit more,” Furman said. “Because those five characters are really, like, real underdog stories, which is what the whole film is.”
Clement and Burton were undrafted free agents. Kelce was a walk-on at the University of Cincinnati — and hardly a lock to stick with the Eagles after he was drafted in the sixth round. Pederson, a former backup quarterback, was heavily criticized nationally when the Eagles hired him. And then there’s Foles.
Foles’ NFL journey was difficult. The backup-turned-starter was twice cast off, including by Kelly after his first year with the Eagles, despite the team reaching the playoffs. He played for six teams over his 11-year career. After his first stint with the Eagles, Foles found himself in St. Louis, where he began to question whether he wanted to walk away from the sport before Reid brought him to Kansas City and helped revive his career.
“I just said, I don’t know if I can do it anymore,” Foles said. “Then it came over me, which one am I more afraid of? Am I more afraid to leave the game? No, I’m not afraid. I’m trying to leave the game. I’m afraid to go back to the game. And my spirit was like, ‘Well, that’s what you need to do.’ Ultimately, that equipped me for what was to come.”
What was to come was a battle the film likened to Rocky vs. Apollo Creed or Ivan Drago. Cliche or not, Foles found himself standing in U.S. Bank Stadium below giant banners featuring one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, Tom Brady, and himself in a moment one can’t help but compare to an almost identical scene in Rocky, when the title character finds himself staring up at a giant banner of Creed.
Eagles quarterback Nick Foles and Eagles head coach Doug Pederson during the second quarter at Super Bowl LII, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Sunday, Feb. 4, 2018.
‘You want Philly Philly’ — or is it dilly dilly?
It’s fourth-and-goal with 38 seconds left to play in the first half of Super Bowl LII and Pederson sent a play to Foles — only it wasn’t the Philly Special. Players looked out of sync, confused. So the coach decided to take a minute to think things over.
“Here we are fourth-and-goal at the 1, and I called a timeout,” Pederson says. “I’m easing back up to [the] coaches box, just looking, just searching for the right play. I’m just searching. I’m listening to the coaches. And I turn my mic off and now I’m talking face-to-face with Nick, and he just walks up and is like, ‘How about Philly Philly?’ My pause was just like ‘That’s it. That’s the play.’
“The coaches heard it, Philly Special, and it was honestly like crickets. I could hear chirping on the headset. Nobody said a word. It was like, ‘Philly Special? In this moment?’”
Once the play was called, everyone involved admitted they had something to be nervous about — except Foles. Clement was worried the snap would go over his head. Burton hadn’t thrown a touchdown pass since high school. And Kelce was worried how he would snap the ball, although he felt like if they could execute, the Patriots “wouldn’t see it coming.”
Meanwhile, Foles was just trying not to smile.
“In my mind, it was just the play that would work,” Foles recalls. “It wasn’t like a play that I thought would be famous. It was like, this will work for [messing up] the Patriots. The one thing I was thinking about when [Pederson] said, ‘Yeah, lets do it,’ when I turned around was don’t smile. Do not smile. Look serious.
“Because I was so excited. I knew it was going to work. That was my one coaching point. Do not smile.”
The only problem, Foles didn’t actually ask for the “Philly Special.” Instead, he asked for “Philly Philly.” And to this day, he still doesn’t know why he called it the Philly Philly. However, the directors had their own conspiracy theory as to why Foles slipped up: the popular Bud Light “dilly dilly” commercials that were being aired at the time.
“Yes, those were on the TV, the ‘dilly dilly’ commercials,” Foles said. “And there is a very good chance that got engrained somehow into my mind. And that’s why people do commercials. Because it somehow, in your subconscious gets ingrained, even if you don’t want it to. That’s probably what it was.
“It was probably me watching the AFC championship game and seeing commercials. I don’t know how Doug knew what I was asking for though. That’s not — he must’ve seen the commercials too. So, that worked on both of us.”
At one point, the film even shows two Super Bowl officials enjoying a “dilly dilly” commercial on the Jumbotron during a break in the game.
That wasn’t the only way the Philly Special snuck into Foles’ subconscious before he asked for it. He also said watching Tom Brady drop a similar pass right in front of him earlier in the game also reminded him that the play was an option.
Throughout the film, there are plenty of Philly fans, notable citizens, and local spots featured — including Reading Terminal Market, Skinny Joey’s, Termini Bros Bakery, Manco and Manco Pizza, and Zahav, where Foles recalls fans serenading him out of the restaurant with E-A-G-L-E-S chants before leaving for the Super Bowl. The group also makes stops at the Philly Special statue outside of Lincoln Financial Field, as well as atop the Art Museum steps, a location Rocky made famous just over 40 years before Kelce’s unforgettable Super Bowl parade speech that captured Philly and its underdog mentality perfectly.
It was important to Furman for this documentary to not only retell an iconic moment in Philly sports history, but to also represent the fandom behind the team.
“They’re just an important part of everything,” Furman said. “Philly fans get a bad rep sometimes. So we’re hoping this film shows where their passion comes from and why this story was so important to them. The first one was a moment Philly fans, some of them, thought they were never going to see it. So that’s why we wanted them to be a big part of the story.”
When Jordan Mason entered the transfer portal last spring, he wanted to be part of a winning program.
It wasn’t his first time in the portal. The senior spent two seasons at Texas State before transferring to University of Illinois Chicago in 2024. He got in contact with Temple coach Adam Fisher in the portal and immediately felt at home.
Mason thought his skill set would complement Temple’s screen-heavy offense. He has since been a catalyst for the Owls.
Temple (14-8, 6-3 American Conference) lacked a true point guard for the past two years. Mason has taken over that role. He’s averaging 11.7 points and a team-leading 4.3 assists in 22 starts.
“I saw the way that the coaches interacted with each other and the way they interacted with me and my family,” Mason said. “It felt like a family right away. It felt like home. It was like I could be comfortable here. I can be myself here.”
Mason developed into a key rotational player at Texas State. As a freshman, he averaged 6.3 points in 32 games (19 starts). His numbers more than doubled as a sophomore (12.9 points per game) and 23 starts in 29 games.
He transferred to UIC for the 2024-25 season and averaged 9.6 points. Mason also was an asset defensively and as a ballhandler. He had 3.3 assists and 1.2 steals per game with the Flames.
“He knows when to pick and when [to] shoot,” Fisher said. “Guys enjoy playing with somebody like that, when you know that there’s an opportunity that you’re going to get shots, and he gets you easy looks.”
Jordan Mason played two seasons at Texas State and one at University of Illinois Chicago before joining Temple this offseason.
Mason quickly established himself as Temple’s main ballhandler in the season opener and created scoring opportunities for his teammates, notching six assists in the 83-65 win over Delaware State.
“Every pass I make, it seems like the shot goes in,” Mason said. “So some of it is me getting a little bit better at passing, but a lot of it is just the talent around me. They’re just really good dudes that make a lot of shots. So it makes me look good.”
His play contributed to the Owls winning seven straight from Dec. 9 to Jan. 14 — a stretch in which he also surpassed 1,000 career points. When he struggled in the middle of January, though, the team’s production took a dip.
Temple lost two straight games, but a road trip to his native Texas helped turn things around.
“He’s the heart of our team,” said guard Aiden Tobiason. “Because he’s so important. He’s really the main guy in principle every single time.”
The Owls won both games at Rice and University of Texas at San Antonio, and Mason recorded back-to-back double-digit outings, 15 points against Rice in Houston and 18 at UTSA — with his family in attendance.
“It was pretty amazing,” said Mason, who’s from San Antonio. “I’ve actually played UTSA as a freshman, and I didn’t touch the floor. That was rough for me because it was my first time playing at home, and it was, to be honest, a little embarrassing not playing. So to be able to come back, full-circle moment my senior year and play in front of everybody and beat UTSA because we lost to [them] my freshman year.”
Entering Saturday’s noon matchup at East Carolina (7-15, 2-7), Temple sits in fourth place in the American and could snatch a top-four seed in the conference tournament in March.
Mason, in his final year of eligibility, looks to make that happen.
“I want to win the conference tournament and go to the NCAA Tournament,” Mason said. “That’s the big goal for our team.”
OSLO, Norway — Norway’s crown princess apologized on Friday for the situation she has put the royal family in as she faces scrutiny over her contacts with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, part of a broader apology for all those she has “disappointed.”
Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s communications and contacts with Epstein have put her in the spotlight over the past week, adding to the embarrassment to the royals just as her son went on trial in Oslo for multiple offenses, including charges of rape.
The Epstein files contained several hundred mentions of the crown princess, who said in 2019 that she regretted having had contact with Epstein, Norwegian media reported.
The documents, which include email exchanges, showed that Mette-Marit borrowed an Epstein-owned property in Palm Beach, Fla., for several days in 2013. Broadcaster NRK reported that the stay was arranged through a mutual friend, which was later confirmed by the royal household.
The royal palace said Friday that Mette-Marit wants to talk about what happened and explain herself in more detail, but is unable to at present. It added that she is in a very difficult situation and “hopes for understanding that she needs time to gather her thoughts.”
It also issued a statement from the crown princess — her second in a week — in which she reiterated her deep regret for her past friendship with Epstein.
“It is important for me to apologize to all of you whom I have disappointed,” she said. “Some of the content of the messages between Epstein and me does not represent the person I want to be. I also apologize for the situation I have put the Royal Family in, especially the King and Queen.”
King Harald, 88, and the royals are generally popular in Norway, but the case against Mette-Marit’s son, Marius Borg Høiby, has been a problem for the family’s image since 2024 and the latest Epstein files have compounded that. Mette-Marit is married to Crown Prince Haakon, the heir to the throne.
The release of documents included an email from Mette-Marit to Epstein in November 2012 asking: “Is it inappropriate for a mother to suggest two naked women carrying a surfboard for my 15-year-old son’s wallpaper?”
He replied, “Let them decide,” and advised that the mother should, “Stay out of it.”
Mette-Marit, 52, said in a statement issued shortly after the files were released that she “must take responsibility for not having investigated Epstein’s background more thoroughly, and for not realizing sooner what kind of person he was.” She added: “I showed poor judgment and regret having had any contact with Epstein at all. It is simply embarrassing.”
The crown princess isn’t the only high-profile Norwegian who faces unflattering attention stemming from the documents on millionaire financier and sex offender Epstein released by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Norwegian Economic Crime Investigation Service, a mixed unit of police and prosecutors, said Thursday that it would look into whether gifts, travel or loans were received by former Prime Minister Thorbjørn Jagland in connection with his positions.
Jagland was Norway’s prime minister between 1996 and 1997. He also has chaired the Norwegian Nobel Committee and was secretary general of the Council of Europe.
The files revealed years of contact between the politician and Epstein. Emails indicate that he made plans to visit Epstein’s island with his family in 2014, when he was chairman of the Nobel committee, with an Epstein assistant organizing the flights.
Norwegian authorities are also looking to lift Jagland’s immunity, which he enjoys because of his past as a diplomat. His legal representative told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that Jagland is cooperating with the investigation.
The World Economic Forum also announced on Thursday that it was opening an internal review into its CEO Børge Brende to determine his relationship with Epstein, after the files indicated the two had dined together several times and exchanged messages. Brende was Norway’s foreign minister from 2013-2017.
He told NRK that he is cooperating with the investigation, that he only met Epstein in business settings and that he had been unaware of Epstein’s criminal background.
Epstein killed himself in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges that he sexually abused underage girls at his homes in the U.S.
Narberth’s borough council hasvoted unanimously to bar the municipality’s police officers from cooperating with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the agency’s 287(g) program.
The resolution approved Thursdaymade clear that “our police department operates to protect our residents and protect the public safety here and does not have a role in immigration enforcement,” said Council President Fred Bush.
ICE’s 287(g) program deputizes local law enforcement officers to carry out immigration actions, including identifying, arresting, and deporting immigrants. ICE has signed around 1,400 such agreements with law enforcement agencies in 40 states, including dozens in Pennsylvania.
In Philadelphia’s collar counties, only the Lansdowne Borough Constable’s Office in Delaware County and the Pennsylvania State Constable Office Honey Brook Precinct 1 in Chester County are 287(g) participants. Bucks County Sheriff Danny Ceisler, a newly elected Democrat, terminated his office’s controversial partnership last month, citing negative impacts on public safety and law enforcement trust.
Neither Lower Merion nor Narberth participates in the program.
Narberth’s resolution establishes that the borough will not enter into any agreement with the federal government, including 287(g), that would commit borough time, funds, efforts, or resources toward ICE noncriminal enforcement activities.
Officials clarified that Narberth’s police department would cooperate with ICE officials if they had a judicial warrant to arrest someone. An internal memo first reported by The Associated Press last month has authorized ICE to forcibly enter people’s homes without a judicial warrant.
Narberth officials acknowledged that the resolution could be seen as “virtue signaling,” given that the borough already does not participate in an ICE partnership. Yet council members said they believe it’s important to publicly signal the municipality’s values regarding immigration enforcement.
The resolution“lets the public clearly know where we stand on the issues, helps reinforce trust, and provides that clarity of what we will do and what we won’t do,” said Dana Edwards, Narberth’s mayor. “From my standpoint, it’s a practical resolution.”
“When our community members trust their law enforcement, they feel comfortable reaching out to them for assistance,” said Councilmember Jean Burock. “We can’t afford to erode that trust.”
Bush cautioned residents against interfering with ICE operations, describing the agency as “poorly trained” and “dangerous,” citing “the actions and the images that came out of Minneapolis” in recent weeks.
Narberth’s resolution came on the heels of a Jan. 30 incident in which two people were taken into custody by ICE during a traffic stop in Penn Wynne.
Following the arrests, Lower Merion affirmed in a public statement that the township does not participate in 287(g) and encouraged residents to call 911 if they observe law enforcement activity with no Lower Merion police officers present.
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