"Tom Brookshier was born during one of the worst blizzards in the history of Roswell, N.M., and yesterday, with the sidewalks just cleared from one of the worst in Philadelphia-area history, Brookshier was eulogized and remembered at the Ardmore Presbyterian Church before a throng of family, friends, teammates, and coworkers.

The Rev. James Hodsden, pastor of the stately, 103-year-old stone church, noted that between those two displays of natural energy, Brookshier unleashed some energy on the world himself.

Yes, that and endless rounds of combustive laughter that would erupt suddenly like a great geyser rumbling from deep beneath ground.

"A happy warrior," his daughter Betsy called him yesterday, and her words came closest to describing the twin and tangled natures of the man.

Brookshier died of cancer at the age of 78 on Jan. 29. It had been nearly 57 years since he came to Philadelphia, intending to stay only as long as his football career might last, but he never left. He and his family adopted the city and it adopted him right back.

Two portraits flanked the altar yesterday, one of Brookshier in his No. 40 Eagles uniform, and the other, from later in life, in the business suit of a professional sportscaster.

He had those two lives here, but unlike some other local celebrities, whose offstage personalities doesn't match their onstage personas, there weren't two Brookshiers. Only one. Only Brookie.

"A very unique piece of work," said Dick Vermeil, who fought with his emotions during a moving remembrance. "Bright, compassionate, empathetic, enthusiastic, humorous, impulsive, spontaneous, intense, tough, a never-ending source of encouragement, and a man of great integrity."

Vermeil went to the dictionary, citing Webster's definition of authentic to describe Brookshier. That down-to-earth quality is what set Brookshier apart."