“…when that ball bounced around for what seemed like forever and finally hit the ground at the end it was like…’oh my gosh, it’s real. It finally happened!” — Eagles guard Stefen Wisniewski about last minutes of Eagles Super Bowl win over the New England Patriots. Photo from Eagles. (Photo by Hunter Martin/Philadelphia Eagles)

Stefen Wisniewski walked towards his locker the Tuesday after the Eagles defeated the New England Patriots 41-33 in Super Bowl LII, easily one of the most exciting championship games in NFL history.

Looking at the 6-foot-3, 315 offensive lineman’s face as he made his way past the tables of autographed shiny blue helmets and white footballs, he looked like a man who was in a place all his own…almost like a sleep walk.

Truth is, at the time, Wisniewski was actually feeling pretty dreamy about the events of past few days.

His team had achieved what many believed was impossible. They knocked off the defending champions and the greatest quarterback of all time using castoffs at many positions, including his own, and including a backup quarterback in Nick Foles, who nobody wanted in the offseason and who had seriously considered retiring from football.

It is still hard to digest all that had happened to this team…so the first question you have to ask the big man known to his teammates and coaches as “Wiz” …has it sunk in yet that you are Super Bowl champs?

Wisniewski said not 100 percent…not quite yet…and that’s OK.

“Yeah, it’s definitely sinking in,” said Wisniewski, as he started the process of cleaning out his locker for the off season. “It’s was an unbelievable feeling on Sunday and just thinking about it…watching videos, watching TV coverage of it since then, you know what? It’s still real fun.”

He took a minute to talk about when, towards the end of the game, he realized this might really happen.

“It started to after we kicked a field goal and we’re up eight,” Wisniewski said. “It started to enter my head ‘oh my gosh we’re like this close to being Super Bowl champs. And as that last (Patriots) drive went on and that kind of built and that kind of built and when that ball bounced around for what seemed like forever, and finally hit the ground at the end it was like…’oh my gosh, it’s real. It finally happened.”

Wisniewski he has seen the impact winning the Super Bowl has had on the City of Philadelphia. He has experienced the impact its had on himself and his teammates.

Like many NFL players, Wisniewski played for years in front of mammoth crowds like when he played at Penn State and later for the Oakland Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars.

He grew up in Pittsburgh and saw all the Super Bowls the Steelers were in and won. So big games were not something that unusual to him.

But coming to Philadelphia, he saw how much more intense it was with Eagles fans and the passion that builds from coming close so many times but not grabbing the brass ring for 57 long years.

“Hungry dogs run faster,” center Jason Kelce said on the victory stand at the end of the Parade of Champions on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. He was spot on.

“It was really cool to see how fired up the city was,” Wisniewski said. “Seeing fans get interviewed and how emotional they were. A lot of people have been waiting a long time for this, and I’ve been waiting and a lot of these players have been waiting a long time for this personally. It’s really, really an unbelievable moment. The emotions, it’s hard to describe.”

Eagles fans literally brought urns with the ashes of loved ones to the Parade of Champions who had passed on before the Eagles finally won a Super Bowl and cast those ashes into the air as the buses went by.

“When you sit back and think about how much work went into it, and how long you wait for it and how badly you wanted it, all the circumstances of how it happened, it was just an unbelievable season, unbelievable football game,” Wisniewski said wistfully. “I mean Tom Brady throws for 500 yards, scores 33 points and we win…I mean c’mon…like…it’s unbelievable…you know what I mean? It was just an unbelievable game, an unbelievable day.”

Wisniewski was reminded that his quarterback was just as dazzling as Brady.

Foles was just as unbelievable. He threw for almost 400 yards, threw three touchdown passes, catches a touchdown pass and scores 41 points….incredible right?

“I know, I know,” said Wisniewski, with a laugh and still shaking his head. “Foles was unbelievable, I’m so happy for him. He’s such a great guy. He’s been through a lot in his career. For him to have that moment, just seeing him up on that stage with his little kid, I was like ‘oh my gosh, this is so cool.’ I’m so happy for him and for all these guys.”

Wisniewski was asked if he has had a chance to look back and mentally relive all that was achieved by him and his teammates.

“It’s crazy, I’ve said this before, we really have no business being Super Bowl champs considering how many injuries we had,” Wisniewski said. “Most any other teams, if they had this many injuries, they would have just folded up and lost and said ‘oh well we had too many injuries.’ But this team was pretty resilient. It’s a credit to a lot of people. It’s definitely a credit to Howie (Roseman) and the GM and those people putting together such a deep team. It’s a credit to all the guys that were on the bench and waiting…that they were ready to go when their time came. Foles, and V (tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai) and all these guys, if those guys aren’t working like they’re training to be a starter, when their time came they wouldn’t have been ready. But all those guys were. They stepped up and filled in great. It’s a credit to all those guys.”

Someone later asked Wisniewski if he had thought about the fact that there were going to be players on this team now who would not be back. Some by choice, some not. Did he feel it was a bittersweet feeling.

“It didn’t occur to me to be bittersweet, to be honest,” said Wisniewski, who signed a three-year contract extension with the Eagles last March. “It’s pretty much just sweet at this point. Every other last day of the season I’ve been on, it’s been bittersweet. This is just sweet. Some guys will be gone, that’s just how this works. But a lot of these guys will be back. But I’m not trying to think about next year yet. I’m going to soak this in for a while.”

So will the rest of Eagles Nation. *

Follow Al Thompson on Twitter @thompsoniii