The fill-in Santa who was pelted with snowballs and booed at a Philadelphia Eagles game in 1968 has died.
Frank Olivo was 66 when he died early Thursday at a suburban hospital after a long battle with heart disease, diabetes and other ailments.
The story of Olivo's misfortune has long been held up as a symbol of Philly sports fans' ferocity, but Olivo "gloried in it," his cousin, Richard Monastra, said.
"It was his 15 minutes of fame," he said.
"He kind of liked it, actually."
The snowy onslaught began with the real Santa Claus stuck in New Jersey and unable to make it to the final game of the NFL season between the Minnesota Vikings and a moribund Eagles team that started the year with 11 straight losses.
Olivo, who was in the stands wearing a Santa suit and fake white beard, was asked to fill in.
But when he ran downfield past a row of elf-costumed "Eaglettes" and the team's 50-person brass band playing "Here Comes Santa Claus," thunderous boos erupted from the crowd of 54,535 and snowballs began raining down.
The halftime behaviour during the team's final home game, broadcast around the country, helped cement Philadelphia's reputation for rowdy sports fans.
Monastra, who was at the game that night, said he believes the fans were unhappy with the team, which lost the game to finish 2-12, and coach Joe Kuharich.
"They were ticked off at the team, they were ticked off at the coach," he said.
"This was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back."
But he said his cousin had a great sense of humour and took it in stride, even telling one nearby fan who pelted him that he could expect coal in his stocking on Christmas morning.
Former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, who was also at the game, called Olivo "a good sport and a great Eagles fan" who is "indelibly etched in Philadelphia sports history".
"For as long as there is professional football," he told The Philadelphia Inquirer, "the story of the Eagles fans pelting Santa Claus will always be told."
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