Philadelphia Eagles surprise New Orleans terror attack victim with Super Bowl LIX tickets
By Tom Ignudo, Jim McHugh
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Pennsylvania (KYW) — The Philadelphia Eagles surprised a victim of the New Orleans terror attack from Montgomery County with the trip of a lifetime this week.
On Thursday, the Eagles released a video of defensive end Brandon Graham surprising Ryan Quigley, a Lansdale Catholic alumnus who was injured in the New Year’s attack in New Orleans, with tickets to Super Bowl LIX featuring the Birds and the Kansas City Chiefs in a rematch from two years ago.
Quigley and his best friend, Tiger Bech, were both victims of the terror attack on Bourbon Street after a man drove a pick-up truck into a crowd and killed 14 people, including Bech.
Quigley and Bech both went to Princeton University in New Jersey. Bech played on the football team and was an All-Ivy League kick returner. He played receiver for the Tigers from 2017-19.
In the video, the Eagles brought Quigley to the NovaCare Complex for a tour but then surprised him with the tickets.
Quigley said he went to every Eagles home game with Bech in the 2023 season and promised to take him to the Super Bowl if the Birds made it. That season was cut short in the first round of the playoffs.
Now, with the game less than two weeks away, Quigley plans to bring a piece of Bech to the game to honor him in the same city where the attack happened.
“He would love nothing more than to be there,” Quigley said. “And I’m going to make sure he’s there with us, you know? I’m sharing his story. That’s my calling.”
“It means a lot because I know he said in his mind he didn’t want to go back to New Orleans because of what happened,” Graham said. “And I know for me, I wanted to change that for him to conqueror his fears.”
“There’s something beautiful that’s going to come from it, and I feel like that’s the start of it, being able to do that for him,” he added.
Ginnie Bech, Tiger’s sister, was also in the video and thanked the Eagles for everything they’ve done since the tragedy.
The Eagles also brought Quigley and Ginnie Bech to their divisional round victory over the Los Angeles Rams, where the two got to meet some of the players, including former Birds center Jason Kelce.
“It really means so much,” an emotional Ginnie Bech said.
The Eagles will face the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans at Caesars Superdome on Sunday, Feb. 9.
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