I don't normally write posts about sports, but it's not every day that a sports fan spreads his mother's ashes on the 50 yard line during a professional football game:

Charlotte Noteboom, 70, a sports fanatic and lifelong Eagles fan, died of emphysema in January 2005, just days before the Eagles won the NFC championship and a trip to the Super Bowl.

"She was the kind of lady who watched SportsCenter every night and Monday Night Football every week," [her son Christopher] Noteboom said.

Even after moving to the Southwest, the family followed the Eagles.

The tribute to Mom was set for the Nov. 27 Eagles-Packers game.

Noteboom's two sisters and brother-in-law were there; his uncle was unable to make it at the last minute. By halftime, Noteboom had made his way to an end zone. Seeing a break in security, he leaped onto the field carrying a plastic bag with his mother's cremated remains.

"I twisted my ankle when I jumped," said Noteboom, a tall, rangy businessman in jeans and cowboy boots. "The first 40 yards were a blur."

Security downed him at midfield, but not before he had accomplished his goal. The Eagles went on to win, 19-14. Noteboom went with police.

"I was hoping not to get arrested," he said. "It wasn't like I was out there trying to hurt anyone."

Eagles spokeswoman Bonnie Grant said: "We maintain the position that anyone who runs onto the field will be arrested."

The team had no comment on the outcome of the case, she added.

Aside from the early media hoopla, and the expense of traveling to Philadelphia for court dates, the case hasn't had much impact on the father of two.

"I own a biker bar," he said. "My clients are there every day anyway, but it gave them something to talk about."

As I'm sure readers expect dark humor, I feel forced to observe that a lot of Eagles fans would die for an opportunity like this.