Drexel administrator Sean Joyce shares a special story about Dragons' fans.

Yes, we threw snowballs at Santa Claus.
Yes, we threw batteries at J. D. Drew.
Yes, we have booed Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt.

The face of Philadelphia sports fans looked like Rocky Balboa after going 15 rounds with Apollo Creed in Rocky I.

But on one Sunday afternoon in a small cramped gym on the campus of Drexel University, the student section, affectionately known as the DAC Pack, for a moment healed all of those wounds Philadelphia sports fans have received from the national media over the years, from one simple sign.

The Dragons opened up their home slate on November 11 versus the Midshipmen of Navy, a university only a couple of weeks removed from harsh treatment by another school’s fans during a football game only an hour-and-a-half drive from Philly. Due to that very incident (and history of Philly fans), I am sure there were some worries in the minds of Drexel administration. Would the same thing happen at the John A. Daskalakis Athletic Center that happened only a short trip up the Jersey Turnpike?

Game day, the student section has arrived early in anticipation of the first home game of the new season after an off-season of wondering why the NCAA Selection Committee left Coach “Bruiser” Flint’s Dragons out of the tournament. The pregame clock is winding down and it’s just moments before Navy introductions. The front row of the DAC Pack, located directly across from the visiting team’s bench, starts reaching for a rollout sign for all to see – administration, alumni, and most importantly, Navy. These rollouts have become popular at games between the seven local Division I college teams as students take shots at one another. But we were not playing Penn, St. Joe’s, Temple, LaSalle, Villanova or Temple. We were playing Navy. Oh, did I mention it was also Veterans Day?

The students started to open the sign and roll it out amongst the first two rows of the DAC Pack section. Game management staff ready to retrieve the sign if need be and me, the advisor to this student group, wondering why I did not put a policy in place to have all rollouts approved.

As an alumni of Drexel and advisor to the DAC Pack, I could not have been more proud of the students outfitted in gold t-shirts. For a city that has received such a bad wrap for its fans, some deservedly so, this was a shining moment and it was all sparked from six words.

The Dragons won the game on the court, both teams had fought hard, but on this Veterans Day there were no losers. All because of a rollout from a group of students sitting across from the Navy bench. The sign was like a raw steak to the eye of Philadelphia sport fans. It read “Navy, 40 Minute Foes, Lifetime Heroes.”

Truly a class act. The 700 Level thanks you.