Eagles Thank Doug Pederson, Jaguars With Cheesesteaks For Victory Over Cowboys
Doug Pederson is doing something special as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
And as a result of Pederson and the Jaguars' latest win, a 40-34 overtime thriller over the Dallas Cowboys, his old team is paying him back the best way they know can -- with a taste of Philly.
Jeff Harris, owner of popular Jacksonville-based 'Philly's Finest', a Philadelphia-themed restaurant that specializes in cheesesteaks, told Jaguar Report on Tuesday that a member of the Eagles organization personally called the store and asked to buy Pederson lunch.
Why? Simply to thank him for the win over Dallas, which dropped the Cowboys to 10-4. As a result of the loss, the Eagles three games ahead of the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC East and race for the No. 1 NFC seed in the postseason.
"So on Tuesday, we answer the phone that by somebody saying they were from the organization and want to send, want to buy Doug Pederson lunch for beating Cowboys, to celebrate beating the Cowboys," Harris said.
"They love Doug Peterson and they love him in Philly so they want to send them a taste of Philadelphia."
Harris says the Jaguars were delivered 35 cheesesteaks and 25 large fries, an ode from the Eagles and Philadelphia to Pederson, who spent years with the organization as a player and won a Super Bowl as head coach.
"We made them a variety of cheesesteaks with Whiz, with American cheese, and with onions. And some of our specialty Old Bay fries."
Was Harris taken aback by the request? There may have been some initial shock, but it also didn't surprise him to see the word get back to Philadelphia after the way the restaurant has established itself as a spot for Eagles fans in Northeast Florida.
"I was in shock. Not by the amount of sandwiches because we do that many sandwiches quite often. We opened in 2001. A couple of months ago, we just sold our one millionth cheesesteak. But to have somebody call down from Philly was kind of a little bit overwhelming"
"Now we do have a lot of people that hang out here from Philadelphia, we fill every seat for every Eagles game at 11:30 in the morning, and that is 180 seats and people are standing," Harris said.
"So we do have a lot of Philadelphia transplants, they come back and forth. So it wasn't surprising that they heard about us, but it was still surprising to have somebody from the organization call."
Photos via Jeff Harris.
Photos via Jeff Harris.
Next, the Eagles will take on the Cowboys in a game that could decide the No. 1 seed. Maybe then they will have another reason to celebrate Pederson and his surging Jaguars team.
