A Request from a former native...

[ChicagoViking]

I'll just say this, if you don't have video of it, it didn't happen. In this day and age of everything on video, and especially taking video of the game, how could you not have video of it. Let's see the video evidence and let us be the judge. I think some of this is being made up. Just my opinion.

You come on here to apologize, then you call fans who experienced verbal abuse liars. Note that there are some people in the world who experience life. There are others who film it. I prefer to experience life and rarely film what is going on around me. I don't have time for that sh!t. I like how you weren't there, but "it is "your opinion" that it didn't happen.

I've seen many videos already, one with open beers cans being thrown (not unopened like has been mentioned here) but all the rest are verbal assaults. Where is all this "violence" people are talking about?

I've reread my post a dozen times now, and simply cannot find the part where I talk about violence. I guess I'm missing something.

I've been verbally assaulted at EVERY away game I've ever been to including NY, Washington, AZ, San Francisco, Dallas, and Chicago. I honestly expected it. Had food thrown at me. A beer or two thrown at me. It probably would have been 10x worse if there were playoff implications.

Where's the video evidence? I've attended games in all of those places as well, and NEVER had food or beer thrown at me, and only one or two verbal missiles. If you are being assaulted at EVERY away game you attend, perhaps you should examine yourself and your own behavior. Let me give you a pointer: if you behave like a typical Eagles fan in an enemy stadium, you are are inviting retaliation. Most of the rest of us behave respecftfully.

Listen, it was wrong for people to do treat the fans who came here like that, but to paint "80- 90% of the fanbase like that is just soooo wrong. As I said, many fans here have "embraced" picture of the fanbase the media has created. It's sad but true. I'm not condoning it, it just is what it is.

First of all, I didn't paint 80%-90% of the fanbase as anything. In fact, I expressly conceded that I only interacted with that portion of the fanbase who attended the game (and some on the streets of Philly). Perhaps a large percentage are kind, decent, welcoming people. The majority at the game are not. Second, you then concede that "many fans" have "embraced" the Eagles' fans boorish reputation. Which is it? The few fans who behave boorishly do not represent the Eagle fan base, or "many" have "embraced" it? Sounds like you're talking out both sides of your mouth.

Eagle Rob has apologized for it and I am too, . . . .

Coming on here and calling a Vikings fan who had a poor experience interacting with Eagles fans a liar is an odd way of apologizing.

[T]o dwell on it and to say that you are going to return the favor to Eagle fans when they come there just sounds so weak. Thought Vikings fans were above all that. Guess not.

Never said anything at all about returning the favor. In fact, I feel the opposite. I think Minny fans should be as welcoming and amicable as they always are. The only thing I have ever said is that I no longer can see myself cheering for the Eagles. Their a$$hole fanbase doesn't deserve a winning team.

Furthermore, as I stated in my rebuttal previously, the fans here are not the way they are because of some "chasm" or "income equality" they are like this because they truly are one of the most passionate fanbases in the country to never win a SB and I think some people (much of that 10%) are pissed off about it.

Guess what, I have cheered for the Vikings since I was a young child and an NBA franchise that has never won the title. Between those two teams, I have nearly 100 years of cheering for teams that have never won titles. Doesn't excuse boorish behavior. Nor am I stating that income inequality absolutely causes the resentment and divisiveness I saw in Philly, just trying to defend PhillyVike's point and positing that the reality he sees in Philly is a possible cause for pent up hostility -- as opposed to the "poor people behaving badly" screed others here have ascribed to him.

And by the way ChicagoViking, what city in this country has " by far, the worst murder rate? Yep, Chicago.

Ahh, a typical strawman from an obvious Trump supporter. WTF does that have to do with anything? It wasn't me who brought up the income inequality issue in Philly. It was PhillyVike. More importantly, your statement is simply flat out false, which is fairly typical for someone like you who relies on opinion over fact and has the views you seem to espouse. According to the 2016 crime numbers, the cities with the highest murder rate per capita are, in the following order, St. Louis, Baltimore, Detroit, New Orleans, Newark, Cleveland, Jackson, Orlando, Memphis, North Charleston, San Bernardino, then Chicago. And, while your silly and counterfactual point has nothing to do with the back-and-forth on this board, it also reveals that you know absolutely nothing about the murders that do take place in Chicago. The vast majority of them occur because approximately 15 years ago, a friend of mine in the Justice Department brought down the two gangs that controlled the Chicago drug trade -- the Vice Lords and the Latin Kings. What the DOJ didn't anticipate when they did that is that it would create a void that would be filled by countless new block-by-block territorial gangs who control very small pieces of territory on the South Side of Chicago. When someone crosses from one gang's territory into another, people get shot. Not minimizing it, but it has very little to do with income inequality (except to the extent the drug market is run by gang members who believe they have no shot of achieving success outside of a life of crime), and everything to do with drug gangs. For what it's worth, I have lived in Chicago since 1991, even living on the south side in Hyde Park for 12 years, and I work downtown every day. I have never felt as unsafe in Chicago as I felt in Philly in two days.

Lastly, your Fox News statement is ridiculous and could be said about ALL other media outlets that are continuing to divide this country because they don't like one person because every media outlet says not to like him.

LOL. A Fox "News" apologist. No wonder.

[Lady Di]

Morning, another apologetic Eagle's fan here. Sorry some of your fans were treated poorly by some of our fans while here for the NFCC game. Felt complelled to come here to say that and to let you know that all the complaints from MN fans did put a damper on my mood last week following an amazing win. I hope that gives you some consolation. We had another Eagle fan come here to let you know how Philly is, your own local media was warning folks traveling to beware. I'm not sure if that helped fuel the story or not. I didn't come here to excuse any of it. I do believe there were some over exaggerations though, for example your QBs' family hiring security, as it turned out it was several friends attending. I am simply tired of being lumped into the small percentage of fans that choose to throw things and be over aggressive with opposing fans. Just FYI, this goes on in other cities as well, not just Philly. Tired of hearing that one as well. So please, I apologize for stupid people, unfortunately, they're everywhere.
The folks that treated you badly are not TRUE Eagle fans. I am. Hopeful to not see or hear of any retaliating fans in MN this week as my team has arrived and needs to prepare for the Super Bowl. Thanks for letting me post, Blessings to you all, Lady Di

[peemypurplepants]

Does anybody here that posts from the Eagles fan base understand an apology followed by a "but, with a whole lot of excuses" is NOT an apology!! There isn't a single Eagles fan out there that can simply apologize and leave it at that. All you guys do is justify your behavior. It makes me sick to think that people can actually treat other people that way over a stupid game!

[Lady Di]

We understand that all your disappointment of losing and missing out on playing another week in your home town is being mis-directed to the entire Philly fan base. We are not excusing bad behavior. When will you all get that?

[Texas Vike]

We understand that all your disappointment of losing and missing out on playing another week in your home town is being mis-directed to the entire Philly fan base. We are not excusing bad behavior. When will you all get that?

If you are tired of having to be connected to boorish behavior among your fans, it seems to me that you need to direct your energy towards those fans instead of complaining to others. The reputation Philly fans have is warranted, it seems to me.

We have fans that have been to away games all around the league. They have made it clear that what they experienced in Philly was much worse than they'd seen anywhere. They are better informed than you on this matter.

[Vikes Guy]

Dumb arsed fans live in every stadium. I've been that fan in my younger days. I can relate to both sides as I no longer drink piss expensive swill beer at games. A few good craft beer before or after and no swill during keeps me calmer.

[peemypurplepants]

I believe you are putting words in our mouth. I have accepted and moved on from a loss in a "game." What we are talking about is Eagles fans treating other human beings like trash! Again you make excuses and blame us for not getting over a loss. You aren't helping yourself or the eagle fan base. If you truly were sorry all you would need to do is apologize. But you can't even do that without adding some bull crap excuses behind it. I accept the fact that Philly is a town I will never go to and that Eagles fans are a group of disturbed individuals who live there lives through a sports team instead of just living their lives.

[Lady Di]

[/quote]If you are tired of having to be connected to boorish behavior among your fans, it seems to me that you need to direct your energy towards those fans instead of complaining to others. The reputation Philly fans have is warranted, it seems to me.

We have fans that have been to away games all around the league. They have made it clear that what they experienced in Philly was much worse than they'd seen anywhere. They are better informed than you on this matter.[/quote]

I'm sorry they are not. You don't think Philly fans travel all across the country to away games? Well, we do and we certainly don't complain about other fans to the extent that you all have. We can hold our own.

I suppose there's nothing more I can say. I'm passionate, non violent, came to drop off virtual cookies to you all, but now I will leave and take my reputation with me. Would have never thought Mid westerners would be so judgmental.

[ChicagoViking]

You don't think Philly fans travel all across the country to away games? Well, we do and we certainly don't complain about other fans to the extent that you all have. We can hold our own.

You don't think Vikings fans travel all across the country to away games? Well, we do and we certainly don't complain about other fans. Until we traveled to Philadelphia. I have been to eight different away stadiums around the country, and never once complained about opposing fans. Until now. While I "held my own," it was eye-opening to see how much pent up hostility, resentment, hatred, and sheer douchebaggery could be so highly concentrated in a single fan base.

[peemypurplepants]

Mid westerns are no more judgmental than anyone else. But what us mid westerners are excellent at is knowing bull crap when we see it.

[PhillyVike]

OP what are you talking about? People falling from fire escapes? I literally have never seen that on the news EVER and I'm 50 years old and have lived in this area for 37 of those years. Homeless people everywhere? Dozens just walking down the street? Are you serious?? I only see them on the main of ramps were people are waiting for the light to turn green and they walk up and down with their cardboard signs. Generally, they stay out of sight any place else.
Oh and what's with the "it looks like pictures of India driving up 95? comment? Really?? Trash everywhere??? Not in Center City there isn't. The Northeast is pretty clean too. Now there are some poorer sections (North Philly) but all cities (especially NE cities) have those. Understand that the city is over 300 years old. The "shack" housing are rowhomes built at the being of the industrial age so they could house the labor force that worked the plethora of industry at the time.
My family came from Philly and moved to South Jersey in the 1950's. Philly has seen better days but it's not the hole you describe. This coming from someone who hates going over there mainly because of traffic, but you have to understand that a majority of Eagles fans actually hail from OUTSIDE of Philly. From central NJ to Northern Delaware all the way out to Harrisburg there are millions of Eagles fans. There is just so much wrong with what you wrote about Philadelphia that I really have to ask if you really lived here.
As for dressing up the Rocky statue. That was laughable. "hallowed Ground"?? Really?? People laugh about the statue and that's why it was moved to the Art museum because it wasn't a real sports figure.
I say all this about Philly because the painted picture is not accurate at all. And I'd say that about 90% of Eagles fans are good fans. I watched a video of some Viking fans walking up to the game and what I saw was a bunch of pimple face kids acting like idiots. Remember I said there's probably about 3 million Eagle fans in this area. There's going to be the morons that have embraced the "Philly fan" picture the media has painted. If you had the time I'd explain the Santa clause incident, also completely portrayed wrong.

Anyways, as a TRUE Eagles fan, I'm sorry for how these dumb arse fans treated you that came here. As I said, with all the people here, there's going to be more stupid people too.

Lastly, as others have picked up on, your elitist tone in your post is glaringly obvious. You certainly don't "know this town"
The only thing I will agree with you is that the Philly fans coming to MN are NOT the ones perpetrating the shenanigans you saw here and don't deserve bad treatment. Two wrongs certainly don't make a right.

I admit, I was angry. I didn't even experience the abuse that ChicagoViking did. But I felt it......boy oh boy did I feel it as if I was there after reading the posts/blogs/articles/tweets that illustrated Vikings fans & family of players point of view.

So if I turned that anger into a rant on a Vikings forum against the city of Philadelphia and it's fans, why do you care? Why are you here, on the internet, looking for a Vikings sanctuary to defend yourself and our dumpster of a city after the treatment our people dished out to our guests. I question if you even live here given that you've never heard of someone falling to their death from a fire escape. You should google things like that if you're unsure. And when was the last time you were in the city other than Center City (for those of you that don't know the area that's one of Philly's tourist traps)? It doesn't sound like you spend much time there anymore and perhaps lost recent perspective. I was in Fishtown on Saturday helping someone move.

I could keep driving a truck through your post but what's the point. You don't understand what happened on Jan 21st in our dumpster city was wrong and there is no excuse for it - you're exactly the type of person around here that I partially described by the lack of self-awareness and community.

The next time you troll the victim of your 'brothers' behavior just say you're sorry and you'll do a better job of being a positive agent for your community in the future.

That's all you Eagles people need to say if you come here to offer an apology or come here at all.

[PhillyVike]

If I may, I'd like to clarify my original post as well. I wanted to make the point that those tailgating at the Eagles game, throwing beer, seeking fights, putting hats in urinals, dumping beer on people, throwing random objects, shoving, punching police horses, etc... are young people (early 20's) who would not likely be able to afford traveling to a super bowl to spend $5,000-$10,000 - I may be generalizing that, when I was that age I certainly had no access to that kind of money. And I wanted people to keep that in mind when seeing a green Eagles jersey in town. It's unlikely the same person who shoved you at the game is the person who will be in MN.

The second point about inequality is not that poor people are bad people, I'd be calling my own family bad people if that's what I meant. ChicagoViking and some others saw the point I was trying to make but I constructed it very poorly and after reading it I can see how others misunderstood it.

Leave it to a group of Minnesotans to see a character flaw in a pro Viking text and call it out. The responses to this thread, from both parties, are in an unexpected way, proving the final point.

[VikingLord]

In European soccer leagues, the stadiums have begun monitoring crowds to actively identify troublemakers and deal with them, usually by kicking them out of the stadium, but also revoking season tickets and/or even assisting police in filing charges when warranted. This has led to a noticeable reduction in violence in and around stadiums on game days, which in turn has made attending the games far more enjoyable for those who are there to actually watch the games and not act out some mental pathology against other human beings. The NFL certainly has the resources to do something similar to that in football stadiums, and maybe it's well past time they started doing it.

I almost guarantee you the fan behavior in Philly (and elsewhere, including Minnesota) would rapidly improve if fans were held to account for their behavior on stadium grounds.

[VikingLord]

If I may, I'd like to clarify my original post as well. I wanted to make the point that those tailgating at the Eagles game, throwing beer, seeking fights, putting hats in urinals, dumping beer on people, throwing random objects, shoving, punching police horses, etc... are young people (early 20's) who would not likely be able to afford traveling to a super bowl to spend $5,000-$10,000 - I may be generalizing that, when I was that age I certainly had no access to that kind of money. And I wanted people to keep that in mind when seeing a green Eagles jersey in town. It's unlikely the same person who shoved you at the game is the person who will be in MN.

The second point about inequality is not that poor people are bad people, I'd be calling my own family bad people if that's what I meant. ChicagoViking and some others saw the point I was trying to make but I constructed it very poorly and after reading it I can see how others misunderstood it.

Leave it to a group of Minnesotans to see a character flaw in a pro Viking text and call it out. The responses to this thread, from both parties, are in an unexpected way, proving the final point.

I appreciate the sentiment. I just find it beyond what you, or any individual, can accomplish. You can't apologize for the behavior of a group of people anymore than I can guarantee you Minnesotans won't reciprocate that behavior in the week leading up to the Superbowl. But you at least made an effort and I salute you for that.

[ChicagoViking]

In European soccer leagues, the stadiums have begun monitoring crowds to actively identify troublemakers and deal with them, usually by kicking them out of the stadium, but also revoking season tickets and/or even assisting police in filing charges when warranted. This has led to a noticeable reduction in violence in and around stadiums on game days, which in turn has made attending the games far more enjoyable for those who are there to actually watch the games and not act out some mental pathology against other human beings. The NFL certainly has the resources to do something similar to that in football stadiums, and maybe it's well past time they started doing it.

I almost guarantee you the fan behavior in Philly (and elsewhere, including Minnesota) would rapidly improve if fans were held to account for their behavior on stadium grounds.

In the late 90s, the Eagles actually did install a court and jail under the stadium so they could arrest, try, and imprison unruly fans under the stadium. Not sure why they got rid of it.