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Eagles Home Opener Means Official Start Of Tailgating Season

By Pat Loeb

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Football was back at the Linc on Sunday -- and so was tailgating. Thousands of fans gathered in the lots around the stadiums hours before the start of the game between the Eagles and the Chargers.

For one group of fans, it's part of an old tradition. They call themselves the Cheyenne Social Club.

"It started off at the old JFK where there wasn't much going on back there," says Michael Parker. "It's morphed from like ten people to 50, 75, 100 every tailgate."

tailgating
Michael Parker, the "Commish" of the Cheyenne Social Club (credit Pat Loeb)

They call Parker "The Commish," in charge of wrangling 40 adjacent spaces in lot H-1, reserved for the season for a small premium. His brother-in-law Sal, one of the founders, says tailgating has come a long way.

"The port-a-potties, the trash disposal, we never had any of that," says Sal. "Everything was a mess. You brought your little grill and you dumped the coals right in the street."

Nowadays, he says, tailgating is as much a part of opening day as the game.

"Opening day is always special," Sal says. "All of the regulars show up for opening day. You get to see everybody, because we're like family."

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