Last year for our Christmas present, my mom took our family to Philadelphia to see an NFL football game. We had field passes, so I went on the field before the game started. I looked out into the stands to see a big crowd and lights shining all around me. I could not believe I was standing on the sidelines, watching professional football players warming up, while everyone else just had to sit in their seats and wait for the game to start.

I saw all of the Eagles and Giants players out on the field; I stood right next to Plaxico Burress when he was taking a break from warming up. All the players were amazing and a lot bigger and taller than they look on TV. I loved hearing them yelling to each other and watching them and throw the football around.

Everyone in the stands was yelling bad things to the Giants, like, “Giants suck!” and, “Go home, losers!” and other things that I can’t repeat. The Philadelphia fans hate the Giants – it’s a big rivalry. It was strange to be on the field with them when they were getting yelled at.

When the game was about to start, I went and sat in my seat. It was freezing cold since it was December. We all got hot chocolate and warm Philadelphia pretzels, but that only kept us warm for a little while.

Then there was the opening kick. I was so excited! The Giants returned the ball with Ryan McQuarters. Everyone was screaming. My ears were ringing. It was so loud in there that I could barely hear.

No one scored in the second quarter – the Eagles struck first and it was the loudest moment of my life! Everyone was screaming “Go Eagles!” When they scored, fireworks boomed out of the stadium and into the air. They played great music, too, and after they scored their extra point, all the fans sang the Eagles fight song. Everyone was excited. I was, too.

Then in the third quarter, the Giants scored which tied the game. Everyone in the stands started booing. I hated to see that, because booing really bothers me. Then the Giants scored again, throwing the ball to Plaxico Burress to make the score 14 – 7. The Eagles followed up with another score to tie the game 14 – 14. There were only two minutes left in the game when the Giants kicked a field goal to make the score 17 – 14.

The Eagles needed to score fast. They drove down the field with almost no time left on the clock. We all knew they would have to kick the field goal to tie the game. Akers was getting ready. There was a lot of pressure on him. It was up to him to tie up the score and take the game to overtime. There was a lot riding on this kick because if the Eagles could win this game, they would be headed for the playoffs!

David Akers kicked the ball; everyone was up out of their seats. The crowd was silent. The ball seemed like it was in the air forever. And then it bounced off the right crossbar. It was so close to making it, but in the end, the Giants won!

Our family thought the Eagles would win. All of us were so quiet. We could not believe the kick wasn’t good. We left the stadium and just couldn’t believe how close the Eagles had come to making the playoffs. Little did we know, the Giants would go on to beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl!

It was still one of the most exciting moments in my life. It was so much fun just to be at the game. I want to go back to Philadelphia and see another game like that. It was amazing. Maybe this time Akers will make the kick.