Philadelphia Eagles Fans and Players React: COVID Outbreak

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December 18, 2021

by David Earl

Eagles Unfairly Punished???

Reuben Frank, a reporter for the Eagles, wrote about the importance of “competitive integrity”, probably because he believes that Eagles are the victims. He also expresses how well that organization handled COVID protocols, as “they took every imaginable precaution to keep COVID out of the NovaCare Complex”, only missing 2 players all year due to the disease. These may be valid points that any organization would make, but aren’t we over sensationalizing this just a bit?

When taking a moral high ground of sorts to speak on “competitive integrity” and how it must be maintained, how can Mr. Frank be even remotely okay with the Eagles playing a crucial matchup against a divisional opponent who has more than 20 players out and down to a practice squad quarterback from another team’s roster? His remark about being ready for Sunday to now having to play on Tuesday creating a short week heading into a match-up against the New York Giants is a bit disingenuous – last I checked Washington (along with 30 other teams) prepare the same way. Washington is not entering a bye in week 15; instead, have to prepare for a much tougher divisional opponent in Dallas. Oh, by the way, Washington will also have to travel, and at a much greater distance than will the Eagles. Sure, this could be looked upon as Washington bringing this on themselves, which would be their problem, but that wasn’t an issue when Pittsburgh’s outbreak last year resulted in a similar scenario leaving Washington a short week to prepare for the playoff-bound (division-leading) Seahawks. The rules last season were slightly different than this year, but why are we so surprised the outcome was the same, particularly when the NFL Players Association conceded postponing could and should be in the cards?

The statement by Tweeter “jerry kelly” above, that “they would not move games”, is one fan’s emotional bias outburst with no substance at all. As Tom Pelissero stated, the NFL did make “clear the past two seasons it won’t postpone games for competitive reasons”; however, Washington’s current crisis, which is an ongoing spread of COVID, is clearly a medical issue, and thus not a “competitive reason”. While people like Reuben Frank are so concerned about the “competitive integrity” of the game, what he apparently wants is for his Eagles to play essentially a replacement squad. The NFL and NFL Players Association made the right choice based on a Medical Decision.

The Philadelphia Conspiracy

While the Eagle Nation claims are egregiously awful, the conspiracy theories have now come to pass. From “the world is against us” to Washington is somehow using COVID to get the game moved so as not to face the true Philly crowd. There is a level of humor to this, but it’s more pathetic than anything. A fanbase’s belief that an unpredictable disease that the NFL is still trying to work with is being used as a game plan of sorts holds no level of argument whatsoever. To me, it’s an attempt to recreate that “underdog” storyline from the 2017 season, which may speak to their lack of confidence in this current team makeup. Regardless of the reasoning for this tearful outburst, the NFL followed its protocols here while the fans of Philadelphia are just being miserable as usual.

Victory by Forfeit?

Now, Philadelphia’s fan base does have some rational fans who want true “competitive integrity” to be displayed in this week’s game. Being in their shoes from a year ago, most Washington fans absolutely agree with this premise. While resulting in a short week heading into Seattle last year, most Washington fans certainly did not want any potentially compromised scenario occurring heading into Pittsburgh and tainting a possible win over the Steelers. Unfortunately, not everyone came across this rational, such as Darius Slay and Fletcher Cox:

It is really simple here as most fans and players come across sounding like they wanted an easy win, even through forfeit. Getting to play against a decimated Washington team then follow up with the terrible Giants before their final two divisional games is great motivation. Honestly, who wouldn’t salivate over such a sequence but this is professional football. Nothing is nothing given to anyone, and victories must be earned each week. Elite players such as Slay and Cox know far more than me. So, Eagles,, overcome, adapt, and buckle up those straps men, because this game isn’t for the weak. I truly hope this week is used more of motivation because like last year facing Pittsburgh, Washington fans all want the Eagles’ best come Tuesday.

Cry Eagles Cry

Stated perfectly by George Carmi above, we here in Washington have ZERO pity or empathy for the players, fans, or journalists of Philadelphia going into this week’s game. While we continued to deal with a toxic owner and his many potentially team distracting scandals  Ron Rivera and company have continued to keep this team focused and prepared every week. From dealing with the head coach battling cancer last season during an unprecedented time and through the continuous weekly embarrassing report after report circling around this toxic front office under Dan Snyder and Bruce Allen, this team continues to fight. There are no excuses, not even after a loss, from the players but just heart and desire every week. So my message to the Eagles fans is there’s a reason why most look poorly upon you and that’s because of your “everyone hates us and are against us” ridiculous mentality every year. The reality of it is that the Eagles are in a larger pot of organizations that get treated differently. Whether because of influence by the powers to be or overall popularity across the nation/world, your self-loathing is shared by fan bases like Cleveland, Jets, Lions (to name a few), and so on. So stop our attention-seeking pity party that no one cares about and get ready for a great unpredictable divisional matchup. This is the real world and we are watching men play a kids game at an extremely high level so cry if you want to because the right decision was made and the playoffs are going to be potentially won or lost this Tuesday. As far as your “Short week” complaint again NO ONE CARES!!! Cry Eagle Cry!!!