The Philadelphia Eagles gave their fans plenty to celebrate on Sunday night, but the team’s 31-7 win over the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game was extra special for one couple.
Kevin Hartnett gave his now-fiancee Taylor Goldberg the memory of a lifetime when he dropped down on one knee to propose on Broad Street amid the celebration after the Eagles’ win in Philadelphia.
Goldberg, who is a second cousin of Larry Brown Sports writer Larry Brown, and Hartnett had been watching the game at home with another couple. After the game, the group made the 15-minute walk to Broad Street to join the rest of the city in celebrating the victory.
Goldberg asked the other couple to take a photo of her and Hartnett on Broad Street as they were celebrating the Eagles’ win. Hartnett instantly thought that would be the perfect moment to drop down on one knee and propose, so he did. And it was all caught on camera.
The spontaneity of the proposal couldn’t have been better.
“I’m really happy that I was caught off guard, because it made it so special,” Goldberg told Larry Brown Sports on Monday.
Hartnett and Goldberg had been dating for nearly four and a half years before getting engaged on Sunday night. They picked out a ring together in the fall, and Goldberg admits she had been bugging Hartnett about it.
For the holidays, Hartnett gave Goldberg a card telling her that her “real present” was on the way.
They both knew he was going to propose at some point in the future, but she didn’t know when. Hartnett had been thinking about when to do it and “wanted to be spontaneous about it.”
He decided to propose after the Eagles clinched their berth to the Super Bowl, and he nailed it.
What made the Eagles-related proposal so special?
“The Eagles have been part of my life and love for Philly,” Goldberg told LBS.
Not only are the two big fans of the team, which has served as a natural way for them to connect, but their respective families are also big Eagles fans. Hartnett’s father has received media attention for his consecutive games streak attending Eagles home games, which is now up to 323.
Asked why he didn’t gamble and wait to see if the Eagles won the Super Bowl before popping the question, Harnett said it wasn’t for a lack of confidence in the Birds.
“I felt like the extra two weeks would have been too long to wait,” Harnett told LBS, noting that Goldberg had been getting antsy about the imminent proposal.
As for a Super Bowl prediction, both recognize the tough challenge that lies ahead with the Chiefs, but they are cautiously optimistic.
“It’s going to be tough, obviously,” Goldberg said.
She noted that Patrick Mahomes isn’t 100 percent due to his ankle, while Jalen Hurts is in better shape health-wise. She believes the game will be close but that the Eagles will prevail.
Hartnett thinks that the key will be to get in the head of former longtime Eagles head coach Andy Reid, who has been Kansas City’s head coach since 2013.
“If we can get in Andy’s head and live there, then we’ll be good,” Hartnett believes.
The two had a dizzying day on Monday full of elation and celebration. They haven’t thought too much about their wedding yet, but they know one thing is for sure about the color scheme.
“We do want to have green.”
