• Home
  • Mail
  • Tumblr
  • News
  • Sports
  • Finance
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Answers
  • Groups
  • Mobile
  • More
Yahoo
    • Skip to Navigation
    • Skip to Main Content
    • Skip to Related Content
    • Mail
    Lifestyle Home
    Follow Us
    • Style
    • Beauty
    • Wellness
    • Pop Culture
    • Shopping
    • News
    • Horoscope
    • Video
    • NowWith

    Defend your fan base: Patriots vs. Eagles

    Yahoo Sports Staff
    Yahoo SportsJanuary 31, 2018
    Reblog
    Share
    Tweet
    Share

    Fans of the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles can be, at times, hard to embrace. For some reason, real or imagined, their eccentricities stick out. In the hopes of getting a better understanding of these boisterous groups, Yahoo Sports gave the floor to two writers who are die-hards for each team. Ben Rohrbach represents the Patriots and Henry Bushnell will voice the Eagles’ cause.

    Bushnell: Don’t hate the passion  

    On the morning after Super Bowl LII’s matchup was set, all the defeated host city wanted to talk about was the disgraceful behavior of Eagles fans. All Philadelphia wanted to talk about was its team. And all New England wanted to talk about was … um …

    Does anybody really know? They probably fawned over Tom Brady. Or maybe they went through their morning routine as usual. Ho, hum. Another Super Bowl.

    View photos
    “Fly, Eagles, Fly” will ring throughout Minneapolis on Super Bowl Sunday. (AP)

    A couple hours after the Eagles steamrolled the Minnesota Vikings, I was texting back and forth with a friend – about Super Bowl plans, dog masks, full-body dog suits and the like. He mentioned he was in an Uber that morning. He asked his driver, a Patriots fan, how he was feeling about the AFC title game. The Pats fan’s response: Most of us are bored of winning.

    Heck, there might have been more Eagles fans celebrating in the streets of Boston that Sunday night than Patriots fans. And that, in a nutshell, is why they – eh, (expletive) it, we – are the best fans in America.

    Because Eagles fans care. More than anybody else.

    Because we do, the rest of the country hates us. We’re notorious. And in a way, the reputation becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Philly vs. Everybody has become part of the identity. Some fans interpret it as a responsibility to defend their turf. Throw in a little alcohol or a lot of stupidity – oftentimes both – and you get the violence; the vulgarity; the line-crossing.

    Nobody is condoning that. Nobody is excusing the beer bottle throwing, egging, f-bomb hurling, middle finger waving and a-hole chanting. It’s probably time we stop kidding ourselves with the popular “this happens everywhere” defense. It does, but not this often, and not to this extent.

    What the rest of the country fails to understand, though, is where the ugliness comes from. It’s passion. That’s all. It’s misplaced passion, of course, expressed in the wrong way. But it’s a natural side effect of what makes the city, and its relationship with its teams, so special.

    That passion, in your eyes, makes us impossible to root for. In our eyes, and in the eyes of many athletes who have come through this city, it makes Eagles fans the kings of sports fandom.

    We haven’t been the kings of actual sports in a while. Certainly not as recently nor as often as those spoiled New Englanders. Philly has had one major sports championship since 1983. But it wears the trials and tribulations as badges of honor. Not because we’re proud of them. Because we’re proud that we’ve endured them; that we’re still the most passionate fans out there despite them.

    And if others dispute that claim? If they downplay the passion because a few idiots channel it into violence? All the better. Because, as fans of our soccer team would sing,

    No one likes us, no one likes us, no one likes us, we don’t care,
    We’re from Philly, (expletive) Philly, no one likes us, we don’t care.

    View photos
    (Photo illustration by Amber Matsumoto/Yahoo Sports)

    Rohrbach: Apology from a Patriots fan

    Sometimes I feel bad admitting I’m a Patriots fan. Then, I tear a pound of flesh from the rotting carcass of your football team, feed off your hatred and raise a glass to our handsome hero.

    I assume that’s why you hate us. Because Thomas Edward Patrick Brady III is so handsome. Because he’s the greatest football player ever and he’s married to Gisele Bundchen. And he gets better with age. It’s unfair, really, that your team passed on him in the 2000 draft six times.

    Or maybe you hate us because our coach wears hooded sweatshirts and doesn’t give an expletive about you. He stayed up all night studying how to defeat your favorite team for the umpteenth time, so excuse him if he gets a little testy when you ask him dumb questions.

    And let’s get this out of the way: Your team cheats. For example, Lane Johnson, the Eagles’ right tackle who called Brady a “pretty boy,” has twice been banned for performance-enhancing drugs. Former Eagles quarterbacks have admitted to stealing signals and deflating footballs.

    It really bothers you that we win all the time. You can change the rules so that our defense can’t be so aggressive or our offense isn’t so creative. The NFL can use ESPN as its pawn to run a coordinated attack on the face of the league and suspend Brady for four games because everyone outside New England isn’t smart enough to understand basic scientific principles.

    And we still win.

    Tom Brady doesn't do losing much in the Super Bowl. (AP)
    View photos
    Tom Brady doesn’t do losing much in the Super Bowl. (AP)

    What’s going to be the excuse this time? That your teams countered Brady with Marcus Mariota, Blake Bortles and Nick Foles on our way to three Super Bowls in four years … for the second time? I guess it’s our fault you can’t develop a decent quarterback, that you’re so bad at it that we actually gave away our handsome backup QB just to mix things up. Are you going to accuse Brady of being an immortal deity who is too good at football? Because that I might believe.

    Sorry you don’t root for the greatest QB, coach and dynasty in the history of football. It’s just that I’m lucky enough to be from Boston. I’m sure your city is cool, too. I’m jealous of places that treat steak shavings like a delicacy and erect statues to fictional characters, because there you don’t have to defend the Pats against losers. You are the losers, and that’s a simpler existence. Plus, you don’t always have to clear your Sunday schedule through the first week of February.

    I get it. Your quarterback throws up in the huddle in the face of a game-winning drive. Ours handsomely marches to a 25-point comeback. Your coach calls a pass play instead of handing the ball to a guy named Beast Mode. Ours gruffly goes about his business. And his business is winning. I’d be jealous, too, if I lived somewhere I didn’t get to root for the greatest of all time.

    We are better than you, and for that I apologize.

    View photos
    Patriots fans wish their team well during a Super Bowl send-off rally Monday. (AP)
    Reblog
    Share
    Tweet
    Share

    What to Read Next

    • Baby born on JetBlue flight to Florida inspires name change for plane

      Yahoo Lifestyle
    • 7-year-old boy allegedly called 'little Hitler' for raising money to go toward Trump's border wall

      Yahoo Lifestyle
    • Cop surprises pregnant waitress with $100 tip on $8.75 bill: 'Beautiful human being'

      Yahoo Lifestyle
    • Tax accountant allegedly couldn't file same-sex couple's taxes because 'it's against my Christian beliefs'

      Yahoo Lifestyle
    • Vans employee fired for reportedly cursing out teen customer wearing MAGA hat

      Yahoo Lifestyle
    • Katy Perry's Engagement Ring From Orlando Bloom Looks Just Like the One He Gave Miranda Kerr

      Brides
    • 5 Reasons You’re Having Enough Sex, According to Science

      Fatherly
    • Kim Kardashian wore a very revealing dress and the internet is very confused

      Yahoo Lifestyle
    • Duchess Meghan Makes Surprise Visit to NYC for a Girls' Trip & Baby Shower

      Harper's Bazaar
    • Kim Kardashian Makes the Term "Boob Belt" Go Viral with Her Latest Look

      InStyle
    • Man arrested for punching, pouring coffee on Sikh 7-Eleven clerk — because he thought the man was Muslim

      Yahoo Lifestyle
    • Liberté Is the Size-Inclusive Lingerie Brand You've Been Waiting for

      Glamour
    • Kim Kardashian, Khloé Kardashian, and Kylie Jenner Have Reportedly Trademarked Their Children's Names

      Glamour
    • Kylie Jenner Is Keeping The ‘90s Alive With This Grunge Piercing Trend We Love

      Refinery29
    • The 'Depression Chart' I Made to Help Others Understand My Depression

      The Mighty
    • Over 25 keto Trader Joe's products to help you stick to your diet

      AOL.com

    Trump urges Venezuelan military to abandon Maduro or 'lose everything'

    JimBob: Democracy has to be a grass roots movement everyone accepts. It cannot be forced....Venezuela needs to do what is best to stabilize themselves.

    Join the Conversation
    1 / 5

    203

    • Take a look inside Ivanka Trump's daily diet

      AOL.com
    • Police are warning parents about a '48-hour challenge' that encourages teens to go missing

      Yahoo Lifestyle
    • ‘Insensitive’: School tied to death of teen with autism faces backlash for throwing a party

      Yahoo Lifestyle
    • Meghan Markle Reportedly Makes a Secret Trip to New York City for Her Baby Shower

      InStyle
    • Kim Kardashian's Daughters Look Just Like Her in This Photo

      Harper's Bazaar
    • To My Parents, Who Don’t Think Kids Can Have Depression

      The Mighty
    • If Celebs Aren't Wearing Skinny Jeans, They're Wearing This Denim Trend

      Who What Wear
    • Bella Hadid Just Celebrated The Weeknd's Birthday in a Camouflage Bra

      Harper's Bazaar
    • The 3-Day Military Diet Says You Can Lose 10 Pounds in One Week. Does It Actually Work?

      Delish
    • Baby Bling! Khloé Kardashian's ‘Dying’ Over True's Hoop Earrings as Stormi Rocks Diamond Chain

      People
    • How My Crohn’s Disease Blogging Had an Impact on Family I Hadn’t Seen in Years

      The Mighty
    • Khloé Kardashian Is Getting Mom-Shamed for Her Long Nails on Instagram — Again

      Allure
    • Everything we know about Meghan Markle's surprise NYC visit

      Yahoo Lifestyle Videos
    • Meghan Markle Supports Campaign for More Diversity in British Universities

      Harper's Bazaar
    • Kylie Jenner Just Shared a Photo Wearing a Massive Rock on Her Ring Finger

      Elle
    • Jennifer Lopez Gave A-Rod a $24,000 Valentine's Day Gift

      Allure