O'Donoghue, who was 11 the last time his team made it to the Super Bowl, promised himself he'd be there if they ever made it again — no matter what it took.

After the Eagles advanced to their first Super Bowl in 24 years, O'Donoghue told his wife: "I don't care if we have to mortgage our house, I'm going."

She replied, "Wait a minute, maybe that's a good idea."

So O'Donoghue sunk $4,000 on a Super Bowl package that includes roundtrip airfare, a four-night hotel stay and one ticket to Sunday's game. To pay for it, he applied for a home-equity line of credit, a way of borrowing money that required him to put up his house as collateral.

"Sometimes the cards are maxed out and you gotta do what you gotta do," said O'Donoghue, 36, an account executive from Glen Mills.

Mortgage bankers in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey say that Eagles fans have been inquiring about refinancing mortgages, or taking out home-equity loans or credit lines, to pay for what O'Donoghue calls "the chance of a lifetime."

Eric Reeber, a mortgage banker in Mount Laurel, N.J., said his office has gotten at least a dozen calls from Eagles fans looking for some quick cash.

He said two couples already have been approved and were scheduled to close on their loans, but both couples were too embarrassed to talk publicly about their borrowing.

"Some people don't care if it costs them $100 more a month," said Reeber, of Northern States Funding Group. "But I'll stand by it, if they want it."

But some bankers are wary. Dave Brekher, president and co-owner of North American Federal Mortgage Co. in blue-collar northeast Philadelphia, said his company has turned down homeowners who wanted to refinance their homes to raise cash for Super Bowl trips.