Random NFC East Thoughts

[Chris]

Even Eagle’s players know their fans are pieces of shit-

"He ain't the first person to hate Eagles fans. There's a lot of folks who don't like Eagles fans. There's some people that played for the Eagles that don't like Eagles fans," Eagles cornerback Darius Slay said.

 

[Mark The Homer]

I hate Eagles fans. I got some stories I'll share later... there's a game on

 

[AngryChuckT]

I hate Eagles fans. I got some stories I'll share later... there's a game on

In for Eagles fan stories.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

Even Eagle’s players know their fans are pieces of shit-

"He ain't the first person to hate Eagles fans. There's a lot of folks who don't like Eagles fans. There's some people that played for the Eagles that don't like Eagles fans," Eagles cornerback Darius Slay said.

YES!! I caught that too and that was hilarious! Heck, ol' Nick was getting into it with Eagles fans this year too. So, I guess whatever they say publicly... probably the whole team knows.

As an aside, one of many reasons I find Bryce to be such a horribly disingenuous shmuck, since he kisses the collective Philadelphia posterior so happily. I know he's self-marketing for $$$ but you know, considering all of the factors there, it just makes him that much more of an absolute shmuck.

 

[Mark The Homer]

I hate Eagles fans. I got some stories I'll share later... there's a game on

Okay, I think we've all heard the story of how some Eagles fan hoodlums broke Chief Zee's leg. I believe this was at The Vet. Might have been a Monday Night game.

Chief Zee - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I'll tell my two cents worth. As I recall, I've been to four Eagles games at the Linc - all four were regular season games.

The first Eagles game I attended was organized by Redskins Roadtrips - I'm pretty sure it was 2004. Dave Halter ran the site and posted an invite on ES and a bunch of us talked in the thread and agreed to drive up in a caravan! A convoy of Redskins Fans to Philly! So early on game day we met somewhere, I think it was the first rest area spot on I-95 north of Baltimore, everybody was there and on time. There were 3-4 car loads of us. Everybody was happy and upbeat. Then we drove to Philly, Redskins car flags waving!

We got to the lot, and soon as we entered we hear ASS-HOLE, ASS-HOLE, ASS-HOLE over and over coming from all directions. The words were timed perfectly - in perfect unison. It was really weird, I had never experienced anything quite like that before. Now I know how Custer felt.

But we found the RR tailgate within the large lot. It was pretty big, I was surprised! And a lot of these guys knew each other, so obviously they were mostly RR and had done this quite a few times. I didn't really know anybody, but that's okay, we're all Redskins fans.

I don't remember major problems with the Eagles fans at that tailgate - just general verbal harassment but no threat of violence or anything like that. But there was potential. There was always this general feeling of intimidation.

I noticed some of the Redskins guys didn't have any Redskins gear. Why? Because they were wearing it under their jacket. They'd unzip their jacket and say "See, I'm a Redskins fan,", then zip it back up. They didn't want to advertise being a fan in the heart of Eagles territory.

Anyway, we had a good time. I seem to vaguely remember brats. I'm pretty sure this was the game where I met Tarhog and Blade. Boone has a photo of us.

So, silly me bought seats in the upper deck. They were good seats though - fifty yard line. I'd say something like row 7. Pretty close to the aisle. I'm with my 15-year old daughter.

So we're watching the game and I'm pretty animated. I have my jersey on, I have my ball cap on. I am not going to sit there quietly. Fuck them. Fuck that. I'm gonna cheer my team. So I'm having a pretty good time and the Redskins were doing okay, staying in the game, and the Eagles fans behind me were not happy about it. I'm standing up and shouting FIRST DOWN- and pointing my arm in the direction and cheering my team, and they're yelling obscenities. To me, it was all good fun though. So far.

And my daughter DLSF keeps saying, "Dad, do NOT get into a fight. Do NOT get into a fight."

No worries. I'm not going to get into a fight.

Then at some point, my ball cap gets taken off my head - by somebody. I couldn't tell who. I turn around and they're passing it row by row straight up to the far upper part of the section. WTF.

So I'm out of my seat and running up the steps chasing my hat and everybody's laughing. And I'm fully aware that there are literally hundreds of them and just one of me. And they are not a friendly bunch.

Then at some point, they start passing it horizontal, away from my aisle. Now I have a REAL problem. Now what am I gonna do?

But as luck would have it, they handed it to a couple Redskins fans who happened to be sitting in that row incognito! He kept the hat and walked over and handed it to me! Woo Hoo! Thanks bro!

It would have really sucked if I lost that hat, not because I cared about the hat, but because of the buttons that were on the hat. The buttons were irreplaceable, they were collector's items in my mind. So I was really happy to get my hat back.

Here's a photo, not of the hat, but of the buttons I had on the hat that day.

So I took the buttons off the hat and put them in a bag, then put the hat back on my head. The hat I didn't really care about.

So the game proceeds. And we're still in it, even though the Eagles were a significantly better team. But I know everybody behind me hates me.

So I've calmed down a bit, and I'm watching the game. Suddenly my ball cap gets ripped off my head a second time. And the guy who took it is running down the steps with it.

He gets to the bottom of the section, and whisks my hat off the edge of the upper deck. It goes sailing out like a frisbee. And then the entire two sections behind me burst into a cheer.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY

It was loud. I'm telling you, it was REALLY LOUD. If Patrick Ramsey had thrown a pick-6, their cheer would not have been any louder.

The guy who tossed my hat then disappeared into the tunnel towards the concourse. <sigh>

After a while, he returned, went up the aisle, gave me a smirk, went up a few more rows, then sat down in the section on the other side of the aisle.

After a few more minutes, a grey-haired security guy, a serious security guy, not just some minimum wage guy, walked up and wanted to know who took my hat. The guy who took it was right there across the aisle. I could see him. But I said, "aah, don't worry about it." But he said, "I am worried about it and I need to know who he was." Obviously they wanted to kick him out. And again I said "That's okay. Really. It's ok." And he thought a minute. Then he said, "Yeah, I think you're right. I think it's best if you don't tell me." Sort of with a half-smile.

So then he offered us seats down in row 1 which happened to be empty, and as I recall, they were kind of behind some kind of wall or something, so I said yeah great! So that's where we watched the rest of the game.

We lost badly in the second half. We were basically humiliated.

So after the game, we got back to the tailgate. Horrible walk back to the truck. Extremely depressing. And every step you're getting jeered and laughed at.

There was some minor vandalism done to some of our vehicles. One or two of the cars had the tire valve cores removed. So the tires were flat. My truck was fine.

So what are we supposed to do? Bring a bunch of extra tire valve cores with us next time?

Long sad drive home.

That's all for now. More later.

 

[tomwvr]

Worst fan base in the league. Ive gone to many game for various sports around the nation the only place I wont go is Philly.

 

[Mark The Homer]

Yep, Pez & Huly refuse to go to Philly. Surprisingly, Seattle is pretty rough as well, although the two I went to were playoff games which is are going to be rough anyway.

 

[burgold]

That is surprising as the city doesn't have that rep at all. I have heard their fans are obnoxious.

 

[Mark The Homer]

Exactly. I've got family in Seattle. The first playoff game in Jan 2006, I assured ES that Seattle was just a bunch of tree huggers and Microsoft nerds. It would be an easy tailgate. I was way wrong.

 

[Boone]

Yeah, you aren’t talking to visiting fans in Seattle. I will literally never go to an NFL road game after my experience in Seattle

 

[Mark The Homer]

You don't like smoke bombs thrown into your tailgate area, apparently

 

[CrimsonHide1970]

Only been to a couple of games as a member of the opposing fanbase here in metro Atlanta. I never had any trouble. Some lighthearted ribbing occurred, but I never felt threatened or disrespected. If I remember correctly, the 'Skins lost each time I attended.

 

[Mark The Homer]

Only been to a couple of games as a member of the opposing fanbase here in metro Atlanta. I never had any trouble. Some lighthearted ribbing occurred, but I never felt threatened or disrespected. If I remember correctly, the 'Skins lost each time I attended.

I went to a game once in Atlanta, back in 2003. An old high school buddy who is still a Redskins fan invited me down and I was their guest. No ES tailgate for this one. Just me and him and his wife. And she had some friends at the tailgate. We wore our Redskins gear. We immersed ourselves in a hard core Atlanta Falcons tailgate lot. It was and is the most cordial away game I have ever attended. The Atlanta fans were polite, respectful, and fun. Another oddity is, prior to kickoff, the owner Arthur Blank, addressed the fans. And the crowd cheered! Atlanta fans love their owner. No boos, the likes of which came down FedExField the one time DS addressed the fans. And we won that game! No problems walking back to the car!

 

[skinsmarydu]

Only been to a couple of games as a member of the opposing fanbase here in metro Atlanta. I never had any trouble. Some lighthearted ribbing occurred, but I never felt threatened or disrespected. If I remember correctly, the 'Skins lost each time I attended.

I'm here, hit me up!

 

[CrimsonHide1970]

Where in the metro are you?

 

[Mark The Homer]

Running out of time here.

Anyway, my next two tailgates in Philly were likely 2005 and 2006. Both times they were ES tailgates organized by me on ES but relatively small. Why were they small? Because ES people, and I think Redskins fans in general, are afraid of going to an away game at the Linc. RR was not involved in either of these two tailgates, and I think these were about the end-times for RR.

So these tailgates were basically set up by myself and a guy I know as Mac (can't remember his ES handle) who was an Army vet, retired, but in good shape, and his daughter who I believe was like nine years old. And I had my daughter who was sixteen. Mac was a hard core Redskins fan. He would come to every game at FedExField from a suburb south of Richmond. He'd drive at least two hours to FedExField every game, arrive way before the parking lots opened, like at around 7 AM, then drive home again after the game. And he'd bring three kids with him! And he'd come fully loaded with cookware, tables, chairs, a canopy, tons of flags - something like five flags. So for this tailgate at the Linc, he had to have been on the road for roughly five hours, right? And he was there early! Hard core. I do believe he got a hotel room for after the game though.

Mac, an Army vet, was a paratrooper or special forces vet. I teased him and told him the reason he likes to go to Eagles away games is because it mimics him jumping into a hot LZ.

So Mac and I brought two Redskins canopies and lots of flags and cookware and tables and chairs and all sorts of stuff. I think most of the Redskins people at this tailgate were relatively local. Both tailgates, 2005 and 2006, were similar. It was pretty rough. Eggs would drop like mortars down onto our tailgate seemingly out of nowhere. Whoever was launching those eggs had a pretty good arm. One egg hit my camp stove while I was cooking. Another one hit Mac's 9-year-old daughter on the arm. Mac was getting angry. At one point early on, a Philadelphia police cruiser rolled by. This was early, before the lot was very crowed. He asked us how we were doing. I said we were doing okay except somebody is bombing us with eggs. He laughed. "Don't worry about that,", he said. "When they start throwing bricks, call me." He left and we never saw him again.

As it got crowded, Eagles fans would walk up and steal stuff right there in front of your face. For example, a Redskins car flag. They'd take it, taunt you with it, and try to coax you into chasing them. Then run away laughing. It sucked. Not much you could do.

They have a system. First, they'll eye you. They'll look you up and down. They'll find something about you that they can use to piss you off. For example, if you wear glasses, they'll call you four-eyes. If you're a little heavy, they'll call you fat boy. If you're black, they'll call you the N-word. There is not a line they won't cross when it comes to verbal confrontation.

Tangent: There is something weird about the Eagles tailgate. Where are all the African Americans? They are nowhere to be found. Not that I could see. I mean, maybe if you look hard, you can find one or two. Maybe. The Eagles tailgates seem to be all white, and they all seem to have blue or green eyes. I'm not making this up. It's weird. I don't quite get it. Maybe it's just the ones who were in our faces. Because, I fully admit, it seems hard to believe.

Anyway, in Mac's case, he was wearing a US Army ball cap, and so they told him the Army sucks and is filled with pussies. Mac was a paratrooper or special forces guy in the Army, so this pissed him off. So they'd get into each others faces. You know, his nose is one inch from the Eagles fan's nose, and they'd be shouting at each other - insulting each other. And this happened a number of times. They were obviously about to throw punches. I'd be trying to break them up, but Mac was not cooperating. Frustrating. Lots of tension. But nothing ever happened as far as a fight.

What I came to realize was, this was part of their system. What they do is deliberately try to coax you into a fight. They will do whatever they can to get you to throw the first punch. On the other hand, they won't touch you. It is apparent to me that their strategy is to get you to throw a punch first, and then it's all over, because you're hopelessly outnumbered. And this seems to be understood within the Eagles fan tailgate community: Fuck with the opposing fans, but don't touch. Get them to throw the first punch.

So, the trick is simply not to fall into their trap. And if you do that, you should be able to leave at the end of the day relatively unscathed.

Anyway - other than the constant jeers from all directions, that's about all I remember re tailgating. I seem to recall on the second trip, Mac got thrown into the stadium brig for an hour or two. This was during the game. Details are foggy - it's been twenty years, and I wasn't sitting with him. I'll let him tell the story, if he wants, if he ever sees this post.

Moral: Don't physically come into contact with an Eagles fan or any opposing fan at any game for any reason.

The fourth Eagles game I went to at the Linc was several years later. I went with an ES member, can't remember his handle but his first name was Ian, as I recall. I only went because Ian, IIRC, had tickets, and asked me to go with him. So I did. He drove. It was a dead game. The outcome didn't matter, neither team would make the playoffs. We wore your Redskins gear, but nobody cared. Nobody said a word. Nothing happened. And the fact that nothing happened and nobody said a word was kind of interesting considering the other three visits.

 

[CrimsonHide1970]

Thanks for these stories, Mark. I've often heard hearsay about bad opposing fan experiences at Veterans Stadium and The Linc but hearing concrete first-hand examples of this type of behavior validates the stereotype of fans in Philly (not necessarily Philly fans). I rarely go to a game here in Atlanta (only if gifted tickets and only if it doesn't interfere with life) and my experiences have never been negative.

Anybody got any stories from attending Washington games at the Linc in the last few years? I'm wondering if the Eagles fans chicanery at home games has been reduced due to the the fact that most people are carrying around video cameras now. Case in point: https://sports.yahoo.com/foul-mouthed-philadelphia-fan-banned-230919642.html

 

[Mark The Homer]

Thank you. I like your avatar. I went to a tailgate at Atlanta once - I posted it in another thread. No story though because there was nothing to tell! Falcons fans are the most polite, cordial fans I've run across.

Edit: Here's one simple example involving Niners fans at the Linc



Edit: Another

 

[CrimsonHide1970]

Thank you. I like your avatar. I went to a tailgate at Atlanta once - I posted it in another thread. No story though because there was nothing to tell! Falcons fans are the most polite, cordial fans I've run across.

I do dig the old school 'Skins stuff. My avatar, as you may well know, is the 1937 logo which appeared on the 'Skins throwbacks years ago. I remember the first time they wore them (during the RGIII era) they had brown simulated leather helmets. The color of the jersey was true burgundy and the numbering was true gold. They were the coolest throwbacks the NFL has ever produced. I would love an institutional return to that color scheme.

Yep, Atlanta fans are not really "in your face" types, generally. I work with a good number of them and the ribbing is always light-hearted. Of course, they're coworkers and may not want to cause a rift. Also, these deep southerners are more into college football (which I sometimes jokingly refer to as "boys' football" versus the NFL which is "mens' football") as a general rule. They will take or leave the Falcons as situations dictate, but cling tirelessly to the Bulldogs (or some other SEC variant).

I did read your story about your ATL experience. It's nice to know that when I do go to a Falcons game, I need not fear for my safety. It's actually sad that you can't go to The Linc and just enjoy the game and some non-threatening back-and-forth with home team fans.

 

[heisenberg]