Kermit the frog once said, “It’s not easy being green.”

Right now, however it is easy to be green if you’re a die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan like Shawn Kresge and Mike Brennan who will be wearing their team’s colors when they arrive at the Super Bowl in Minnesota to hopefully watch the Eagles defeat the New England Patriots in person.

Kresge bought his first set of season tickets in1996, one year after graduating from Lehighton High School.

“I’ve missed exactly 12 home games in 22 years,” he said proudly, “and only one game this season.”

In the 2002, NFC championship game, which Kresge attended, he was selected by lottery to be eligible to purchase two Super Bowl tickets if Philadelphia, an overwhelming favorite at home, defeated the Tampa Bay Bucs. The Eagles lost 27-10.

“I was scarred by that loss,” said Kresge, “and I’ve waited 16 more years to get another chance to see them play in the big game, so there’s no way I’m passing up this opportunity.”

Kresge will be attending the game with his friend, Mike Brennan, also of Jim Thorpe and another friend who wished to remain anonymous.

The arrangement to acquire their tickets involved both coincidence and uncertainty. Two years ago, Kresge, an electrician who operates his own business, was vacationing in St. Thomas when a man from Wisconsin asked him to install a ceiling fan in his island residence.

“I found out he was a ticket broker and he told me that if I ever wanted tickets to a big event, he could beat any competitor’s price,” said Kresge. “So I called him after the Eagles beat the Vikings and he hooked me up.”

The uncertainty part of getting tickets for anyone going to the Super Bowl is they have to pick them up at a secured place in Minneapolis in order to prevent fraud.

“I’m a little bit worried,” said Brennan about getting the tickets which costs thousands of dollars apiece. “But everyone has to go through the same thing. Go out there and pick them up.”

“We won’t know where we’ll be sitting until we get the tickets,” said Kresge,”but I’m sure the seats will be somewhere in one of the end zones.”

Kresge joined Brennan in celebrating the Eagles’ winning the NFC George Halas trophy at Lincoln Financial Field last week against the Minnesota Vikings.

“It was something to see 70,000 people hugging each other after the game,” said Brennan.

A walk down stairs into Kresge’s basement and you enter a man cave adorned with Eagle memorabilia. A pool table’s felt top is a photographic image of a game played years ago at Veteran’s stadium. Signed jerseys are everywhere, several penned by long time, and now retired defensive back, Brian Dawkins. Posters and beer signs cover the walls near a bar countertop that features an Eagle helmet design engraved into the granite. And let’s not forget, Stella the family dog, who chases a ball thrown across the floor, while she wears an Eagles” sweater.

Kresge also displays three helmets that represent the first half of the twentieth century history of the team, another in Kelly green from the 1990s and a third in midnight green that the players wear now.

Their itinerary to the Super Bowl began with a 5 a.m. plane flight on Friday morning from Wilkes-Barre to Madison, Wisconsin and a four-hour drive from there to a hotel just outside of Minneapolis, They expected to arrive at 2 p.m. Central Standard Time.

Both Kresge and Brennan feel that the Eagles will defeat the vaunted Patriots.

“If they play the same way they did against the Vikings, they’ll have it in the bag,” said Kresge, who was at the Phillies World Series clinching game in 2008. “The keys will be having no turnovers on offense and the defense has to get in Brady’s face and maybe get a pick six off of one of his passes.”

“Football games are won in the trenches with the offensive and defensive lines,” said Brennan, a season ticket holder for the past 40 years. “And the Eagles are better with both.”

Kresge predicts a 24-20 Eagles win and Brennan likes the birds by a final score of 35-28. Both pick defensive lineman, Fletcher Cox to be named the Most Valuable Player.

“Every team in the NFC East has won Super Bowls except us,” Kresge said. “I might never see them again play for the Lombardi trophy so just give me one … give me this one.”

Shawn Kresge and Mike Brennan, two die-hard Philadelphia Eagles’ fans on a mission of a lifetime to see their beloved green and white win the Super Bowl. They will return on Monday, but Kresge hopes that his celebration will not be over after they get back.

“I’m going to celebrate with all the fans on Broad Street in Philly and then be there to take in the ticker tape parade.”