The Philadelphia Eagles are on a little bit of a skid right now. They’re not playing well. And no one knows it better than the Eagles themselves. And why is that? Because they play in Philadelphia. Their fans let them know it.
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The City of Brotherly Love has hardly lived up to its name since it was so-called back in the 17th century by the quaker William Penn. He liked that it literally meant “love” and “brother” in the original Greek (“philos”, for love, and “adelphos”, for brother). But you don’t see a lot of that on the Philly sports scene. Especially not at Eagles games.
When things are good, it’s bad news for whatever opponent is coming to town. But when things are bad? They’re bad all over the city. Philly’s fans cannibalize each other and the team. They were booing on Thanksgiving for crying out loud. Then, offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo’s house was egged. Only in Philly would the fans be able to pinpoint an OC as their target. That’s hate, but that’s deep knowledge and love, too. But Brandon Graham is ready to shut them up.
“I just can’t wait for them to eat them words. It’s like, ‘Alright, mhm, I got you, I hear you.’ I ain’t worried about it, because it’s part of it. And I know that that’s just part of the Philly brotherly love that’s been here since I been here, even before me.”
Truly, only in Philadelphia would it seem perfectly normal—and it really does—for a professional sports team to gain Michael Jordan, “prove-em-wrong” type motivation from their own fanbase. But that’s how it is in Philly.
Iron sharpens iron, pressure makes diamonds. Whatever you want to say. Philly sports is a cauldron that spits out the faint of heart and only celebrates the brightest and toughest.
And no one knows that better than Graham, who was a first-round draft pick of the Eagles back in 2010 and has played his entire career in Philadelphia. Heck, he came out of retirement just to help the team out this season.
And while he’s been through a lot of ups during his decade and a half in the Green and White, he was there for some pretty low lows as well. He knows what it’s all about in Eastern Pennsylvania. And he knows the Eagles need to play better.
“Because I know we ain’t playing good, then ya’ll wanna remind us with the boos when ya’ll supposed to be cheering. But I understand, it’s both ways, we gotta be able to take both. That’s my comeback: ‘Yup, I got you, I’m gonna remember that.'”
The Eagles don’t just need to prove their own fans wrong in Week 14.
After the Dallas Cowboys’ loss on TNF, they need to win in L.A. against the Chargers to put the division race to bed for good. If they don’t, they will have lost three games on the bounce. And even a 1.5-game lead in the division won’t matter to Eagles fans then.
