Fly, Eagles, Fly: Here's how Delawareans are getting hyped for the Super Bowl

The big day is almost upon us, and Delaware fans have done their part to support the Eagles.

As America's team heads toward a frigid showdown with the New England Patriots and a possible first Super Bowl win, Delawareans have been ballyhooing their preferences.

Showing solidarity 

Employees at Paul Campanella's Pike Creek Automotive shop took their Eagles mania outside. The auto shop's sign proudly reads: "We fix cars better than the Patriots fix games."

"We're all Philadelphia fans here," said Anthony Campanella, the service manager at the Limestone Road location near Kirkwood Highway. "And it's just been a hit since it went up."

All in the details

Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library also leaped onto the Super Bowl bandwagon with social media posts that compare furniture, housewares and silver made in Philadelphia and Boston.

The pieces include a silver tankard made by Paul Revere Jr., about 1768 in Boston vs. a pitcher made by Thomas Charles in Philadelphia about 1815 featuring an eagle for a handle.

More:Take our Eagles-centric Super Bowl quiz

Fly, Eagles, fly, but not on 95

Even the Delaware Department of Transportation joined in on the fun: Messages supporting the Eagles displayed on about a dozen of DelDOT's highway-side message boards used to show information about road hazards. 

"FLY EAGLES FLY. DRIVE DRUNK. GET A DUI," reads a sign greeting motorists on I-495 through Wilmington. 

Another reads: "YOU CAN'T DEFLATE UR WAY OUT ... OF A DUI," a jab at the Patriots being accused of cheating by deflating game balls during a 2015 playoff game. 

Hometown heroes 

Wilmington's own Wendell Smallwood could have a chance to play in Super Bowl LII. When the Eagles running back was 11 years old, he remembers watching the team play in the Super Bowl in 2005 in his childhood home.  

Several family members will be sitting in the stands in U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Sunday. 

"It’s just a dream come true," Smallwood said. "I’m just proud that I can bring my family that joy and let them see that.

Smallwood's not the only local hitting the field on Sunday. But he is the only one wearing green.

Caesar Rodney High School alum Duron Harmon is heading to his third Super Bowl Sunday as Patriots' safety.  

Harmon doesn't take any of this for granted.

"It puts everything in perspective coming from Delaware, a small state," Harmon said. "Not a lot of guys from there make it to the NFL, so when you’re put in positions like this, it just lets me really understand how blessed I am."

He also knows he can't count on anyone from his home state to be rooting for him.

"That area is so loyal to the Philadelphia Eagles, and they have a big fan base in Delaware. They'll root for their team instead of a friend or even a family member."

More:8 ways Eagles fans can get positive Philly vibes

Ready for No. 13

Smallwood is not the only Delaware connection: Newark resident Ed Klima is working his 13th Super Bowl in succession this week in the field of emergency preparedness. And Firefly founding director Greg Bostrom is currently the director of entertainment for the Minnesota Vikings, the hosts of this year's Super Bowl. 

Reason to PARTYYYYY

Deciding where to watch the Super Bowl can be tough, so, thanks to entertainment writer Ryan Cormier, here are 10 places to watch the game in Delaware. 

Arden resident Justin Roberts, 31, will be hosting a private party at his friend's home, located on a 150-acre farm in Townsend. The festivities will include riding four-wheelers and shooting New England Patriots targets, in addition to eating and drinking. 

"We actually just went to Pennsylvania and bought a bunch of fireworks, too," says Roberts. "They're going to win this time. I don't want to jinx it, but I think we got this one."

Eating 'green'

For better or for worse, Eagles fans will most likely be stress eating during the Super Bowl. Food writer Patricia Talorico recommends fans get their dose of "greens," such as eating Serpe & Sons Bakery's vanilla cupcakes decorated with German shepherd faces because, you know, underdogs.

And here's some beer pairing tips for your Super Bowl party.

Popping the cork

Frank Markert, 87, has had a chilling bottle of champagne in his refrigerator since 1980, when the Eagles first played in a Super Bowl. When they lost, he promised to keep it in the fridge until they won.

After facing disappointment in 2005 when the Eagles lost to the Patriots, the Dover resident, who is hooked up to oxygen after recent health issues, hopes to pop the bottle on Sunday. 

Contact Meredith Newman at (302) 324-2386 or at mnewman@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @merenewman.