She said she has been to enough Eagles (and Phillies and Sixers) games to know that when the orange security shirts show up, there’s going to be action.
That’s why @Hailger went from initially taking a video of what she thought was a great flag supporting Israel to taking the video of George Norcross being led out of his suite at Lincoln Financial Field Sunday – and the flag being ripped down.
A video that went viral almost immediately.
“That’s why I kept filming,” she told ROI-NJ. “My sister had pointed out the flag, I just wanted to get something of that. But when I saw the orange shirts, I just kept filming.”
To be clear, @Hailger (she asked that we just use her Instagram handle) knows who George Norcross is – she just didn’t know she was filming him at the time.
“He was a ways away from where we were,” she said. “I had to zoom in. I just thought it was a guy in a suite who was getting in trouble for this flag, and I didn’t know why, so I just kept recording and recording until he wasn’t in the box anymore.”
She quickly posted the 39-second video to her Instagram stories – and was stunned when she couldn’t go back to watching the rest of the Eagles game with the Cowboys.
The DMs came in almost immediately. And she quickly learned it was Norcross – when Norcross’ daughter and daughter-in-law were one of the first people to reach out to her.
“They said, ‘Can you send us the video – we’re so happy and thankful that you got the whole thing,’” she said they wrote.
“I guess you can just say I was in the right place at the right time, because I was the only one who captured the whole thing. I just didn’t know that it was going to escalate into what it has become.”
What it has become is a 24-hour period of being internet famous (after getting a taste, she said she’s not interested in it) and a little extra money.
After her friends told her she could cash in on the video, she reluctantly did – getting nearby outlets (such as TV stations in Philly) to national outlets (such as Fox News, the New York Post and the Daily Mail) to pay a fee for use.
“I wasn’t thinking this was a way to make money, but people kept telling me that everyone is going to steal it, so you might as well charge,” she said. “A little extra money never hurts.”
She wouldn’t reveal her fee, but she did say immediately recognized the value of the video.
“When NBCUniversal reached out to me and told me the platforms they wanted to post it on, I was like, ‘I know how much revenue you make in just one quarter – I can Google the traffic you get to your website – this is my rate,” she said she told them.
She said she did not ask the Norcross family for money – and that she only wants a chance to meet George and his family and thank them for their support. She already has been invited to the group’s next tailgate (Nov. 26 against the Buffalo Bills). As a season-ticket holder, she’ll be at the game.
“I told them, ‘Once everything settles down, I’d love to meet with them in person,’” she said. “They said they would be happy to make that happen.”
When it will settle down is another matter.
Norcross already has threatened to sue the Eagles and the NFL. More than that, he has said he intends to show his support again.
In an op-ed that appeared on the USA Today Network Tuesday, Norcross questioned why his show of support didn’t match the statement the Eagles themselves put out – or the actions the league has taken against Russia since it invaded Ukraine.
“I told the security guard in no uncertain terms I wouldn’t take (the flag) down because it was important to make a clear statement that America was standing by its longtime ally, Israel, after 1,400 of its citizens were brutally murdered and hostages were taken by the terrorist group Hamas on Oct. 7,” he wrote.
And when the Eagles put out a statement that said Norcross was physically and verbally abusive (he doesn’t deny that he got loud) he said eyewitness will attest otherwise to any physical confrontation by him.
As will @Hailger’s video.
Call her the accidental videographer.
“When I found out it was him, I was like, ‘Oh shoot, what have I got myself into,’” she joked.
“The family told me, ‘We’re so sorry that your last few days have been chaotic.’ I was like, ‘I’m helping someone. I have the proof.”
That being said, @hailger said she hopes her time in the spotlight is over.
“I keep thinking, ‘Is this what’s it like to be part of the paparazzi and get that one great photo?’” she said. “I enjoyed it. It was nice, but that’s not for me. I’m good.”
What she wants is to return to a private life.
She has just taken over the family’s manufacturing company (she didn’t want to reveal its name because of the sensitive nature around the incident) and wants to put all of her concentration into that.
“I just want to go back to being a face in the crowd,” she said.
One who had her phone up at just the right moment.
