Super Bowl excitement runs high in Limestone as cheerleaders decorate storefront windows
Feb. 10—ATHENS — The numbers 16 and 32 along with expressions like "We love the Eagles" and "Fly, Eagles fly" decorate almost two dozen storefront windows in downtown Athens this week as a demonstration of the community's pride.
When Super Bowl LVII kicks off Sunday, two of the 53 players on the Philadelphia Eagles' roster will be from Limestone County. Receiver Quez Watkins, who played for the Athens High Golden Eagles, will wear jersey No. 16. Defensive back Reed Blankenship, who played for the West Limestone Wildcats in the Lester community, will wear No. 32.
"It's great. It's really something for our community to be proud of," said Max Grisham of Athens, who was on the downtown square Thursday meeting family for lunch and admiring the storefronts.
"I think now I might actually watch the Super Bowl," he added, admitting he's not much of a football fan.
Cheerleaders from both Athens High and West Limestone High decorated the storefronts in advance of the game between Philadelphia and the Kansas City Chiefs, which will be played in Glendale, Arizona.
Caila Davis, West Limestone High's cheerleading sponsor, said the city reached out to her about her squad joining Athens High's cheerleaders to show support by decorating storefronts.
"I said that was something we would completely love to do because it's a big deal for our small town," Davis said. "We split up different businesses. I think we had about 10 each per cheer squad. ... We just wanted to come together to show support from both towns because it's just a big deal for Athens and West Limestone to have football players going to such a huge event."
Davis said it is important for her squad to support their school's football players and they were excited to support someone that played on their field.
"They were super pumped to be able to go and be like, you know what, we have a football player that we've maybe not cheered for but we cheer on Friday nights for football," she said. "We're able to go and support him because he's kind of like a small-town football hero from West Limestone."
Village Pizza on Athens' Square was one of the businesses decorated with sayings including "All in for Athens." Village Pizza bartender Atlee Hanks said her fellow employees are from both Athens and the West Limestone area.
"We just wanted to show support for the guys we all know and love," she said. "We wanted to make sure they knew we were thinking about them and supporting them."
Hanks said the fact that two players from Limestone County will be in the Super Bowl is a big deal. She said Watkins will be the first person she knows personally to make it big in the NFL.
"Quez and I went to school (together) our entire lives, and it's cool to know that someone from here is actually in the NFL," Hanks said. "And not only that, they're playing in the Super Bowl. It's just a big deal for all of us; a lot of hometown love and support for sure so we're very proud of him."
There will be two Super Bowl viewing parties Sunday in Athens. One will begin at 2 p.m. at Village Pizza, 222 W. Market St., and the other for patrons 21 and older starts at 3 p.m. at Limestone Legends Billiards, 111 S. Marion St. The game kicks off at 5:30 p.m. and will be televised by WZDX-54.
—erica.smith@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2460.
