Eagles fans should feel disrespected by a recent online article
You’ll never believe what’s been said about Eagles fans, but you’re not going to like it.
In a recent article by WalletHub.com, Philadelphia was ranked the seventh-best sports city in the country. Philadelphia Eagles fans were ranked the 17th-best fans in the entire NFL. Some of the fan bases who were ranked higher included the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. The Carolina Panthers were ranked 12th. You needn’t ask where this headed.
What a true fan is:
No disrespect to any of those franchises, but let’s be honest. Much of the Patriots fan base exists because of two reasons, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. The city of Atlanta has long been criticized for being a bad sports city. Panthers fans have had a tendency to be more loyal, but outside of two runs to the Super Bowl, they’ve had a tendency to vanish as well (just take the 2016 season as an example).
It’s been a long time since this team won a championship, yet the fans, every year, have the hope that this is going to be the year and they show up every year waiting for it to happen. – Ray Didinger
We’ll keep this as respectful as possible. Anyone who can’t place Eagles fans in the top five of every aspect of what a true fan is needs to investigate their evaluation process. It doesn’t matter how many people are in your city, and it doesn’t matter how many professional sports franchises your city enjoys. What matters is loyalty, compassion and fanaticism.
We salute the best fans in sports.
Eagles fans don’t jump on or off a bandwagon like they do in other cities. This fan base wasn’t built because of a “dynasty” or during a historic string of championships. Eagles fans support their team because it’s what their fathers did. Their fathers took their cue from their grandfathers and so on. We borrow a quote from Ray Didinger, an award-winning sportswriter and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (Writer’s Honor Roll).
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In a 2004 NFL Films release, The Complete History of the Philadelphia Eagles, Didinger said it best.
He said, and we quote “They’re a family heirloom that’s handed down from generation to generation. That’s why the people stay with them year after year through the bad times, through the losing seasons. I mean, for the people of this town to jump on or off a bandwagon, as they say or they do in some other cities, and abandon a team when it loses. It’s not going to happen in this town.”
He continued “That would be like taking your family album and putting it out at the curb for the trash man because the Eagles are part of your family. They’re part of who you are, and that’s why I think this is the number one football town… because it’s been a long time since this team won a championship, yet the fans, every year, have the hope that this is going to be the year and they show up every year waiting for it to happen. That’s the definition of loving football, and that’s the definition of loving a football team.
Enough said, and we’re done.