Eagles fans take heat for booing after Collie hit
Were Eagles fans out of line for their reaction following the second-quarter hit on Colts wide receiver Austin Collie?
Eagles fans take heat for booing after Collie hit
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
When Eagles fans at the Linc saw a yellow flag on the field after the second-quarter hit on Austin Collie, they were beside themselves.
So were the Eagles players. And coaches.
Asante Samuel couldn't believe it. DeSean Jackson, who was on the receiving end of one of the most devastating hits of the season a few weeks ago, ran onto the field to complain to the refs - to the point where he had to be pulled away.
As the scene was unfolding, boos rained down from the spectators - obviously not for the fact that Collie lay motionless, but because the fans thought the refs made a terrible call.
After initial reaction to the penalty, several Eagles defenders realized that Collie was not moving and calmed the crowd down. I remember Juqua Parker, specifically, waving his hands like a quarterback at the line of scrimmage, asking fans to get quiet. And most did.
But the ones who did not are the target of Chris Chase, an author of Yahoo Sports' NFL blog, the Shutdown Corner:
Philadelphia Eagles fans are always complaining that their reputation as the most boorish fans in football is unjust and that a few unfortunate incidents over the past few decades have been blown out of proportion by the media. We're passionate, they claim, not impertinent.
But then a small faction of these same fans go out and cascade boos upon a field as a knocked-out opponent lies motionless on it, unintentionally reinforcing the stereotype they claim to be false.
Chase acknowledges that most fans booed initially, then quieted down and then cheered for Collie. He thinks the fans that were in the minority, the ones booing the whole time, will once again damage the reputation of everyone else:
The issue is that some Eagles fans, given time to calm down from the initial displeasure with the call, continued to boo even as Collie lay still on the ground. He was out cold. He wasn't moving. And many idiots continued their complaints about the call, as if an automatic first down for Peyton Manning was infinitely more important than the immediate health of a man on the field.
For what it's worth, it doesn't appear that Chase is on point about this being one of those Philadelphia fan incidents that gets discussed around the country. In fact, I just did a quick search and can't find a single other writer who criticizes the Eagles fans for their behavior yesterday. The hit on Collie is a hot topic around the league, but the argument has focused on whether it was a penalty or not.
If you missed my posts on Sunday night, here they are:
A must-see video of the Eagles' locker room celebration
Dimitri Patterson assesses his first career start
Notes on the Eagles' offense and defense
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Comment removed.
It's a shame that Collie was injured, but fans were deservedly angry about a penalty that should never have been called and a fumble that should have been awarded to the Eagles.
In fact, looking at the replays of the hit, Collie himself created the dangerous situation by dipping his head as he prepared for impact. He was by no means "unprotected," and he is at least partially responsible for his injury since he committed a cardinal sin in football, i.e. lowering his head before a hit.
Eagles fans applauded him when he was removed from the field, but I don't know why anyone should be expected to be happy about a bad call that ended up costing the Eagles a touchdown not long after the Collie situation.
I don't care if a player is laid out on the field or not, a bad call is a bad call. It's unfortunate that the NFL and its officials are attributing intent, with regard to hits, where none was at all evident, obviously being swayed by a player being left down on the field with an apparent injury.— Watching and Waiting- Just an excuse for the outside of Philly media to beat up on Eagle fans. They were booing the refs, not the injured player. Anyone who can't see that doesn't want to. They stadium erupted in applause as he was being taken off the field. But, of course, that is ignored by the Philly-haters.— Russ
- Wow. Now you can't boo a bad call if a player is hurt? How does booing make this situation any worse? In any other city this is a non-story.— smfree31
- Chase who?
— mikezee - It was inappropriate period. Much the same happened when Michael Irvin laid motionless years ago at the vet. There are so many people that just do not "Get it".— Carlos2
- BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!— CMI
- It was an AWFUL call. That was the worst officiated game I've ever seen. The guy was NOT defenseless, there were no illegal hits AND it was a fumble. Philadelphia fans did the right thing, they booed the REFS. Each one of those guys should be fired.— Vote for Dickie
- Irvin situation was different and was an embarrassment. At that game, there was a significant cheer for Irvin being down. Fans were booing the call especially in that situation and drive. Earlier in that same drive the Eagles stopped them on 3rd down but were flagged for PI when the Colt receiver tried to run over Patterson.
The injury appeared to take more out of the Eagles than the Colts as the Colts hit for 10 points before halftime— DaveinNewton - They should have got that invalid off the field sooner. It was only a concussion, you could tell from the reply that "the other injury" wasn't a possibility. I hit my head on the goal post playing soccer harder than he got hit, and I played in the next game. Eagles fans have every right to boo, Austin Collie will be fine and DJax took a harder hit than that.— brmorgen81
Carlos, you don't know what your talking about, in fact, you're the problem.— CosmoK- @mikezee- I agree. This guy just wanted some publicity for his story. He had to be the first guy to jump on Philly fans. It's obvious the fans booed the lousy call. Everyone cheered when Collie was taken off. It wasn't Michael Irvin; I mean we are not savages!— rob808pf
- Booing was ok from the fans but Asante running around while Collie laying on the field was a bit much. He is a first class jerk !!!!— AJL99
- Let's stop giving a guy in a living room in Maryland so much attention. He wasn't there. His source is the CBS feed.— DaveinNewton
- The crowd went nuts when the Eagles replayed the hit on the two endzone TVs. There wouldn't have been the amount of boo's if the Eagles didn't replay the hit on the endzone TVs. The Eagles replay officials should have shown the hit when they saw Collie laying on the field motionless.— T.R. Moser
- The officating of this game was horrible. Two of the three Colt TD drives were the result of BAD CALLS. It's a shame Collie got hurt, but that's football. It was a clean hit AND a fumble. As for the call on Trent Cole on the Manning fumble in the 4th. PLEASE.........I understand the need to stop helmet to helmet hits, but some common sense must be put in the formula.
And another thing, who cares about a nobody sports writer on Yahoo. Another clueless moron taking a cheep shot at Philadelphia. He can Kiss My A_ _!!— craig123 - chase nobody reads yahoo sports anyway. your article means nothing. the refs were terrible all game when a receiver catches a ball you are suppose to tackle him especially when he already ran for 3 yards and then fumbled the ball!!!!!— KMOORE1333
- "brmorgen81," we already have a lonewolf, but nice try.— John663
- Regardless of the call, he's correct the conduct was disgraceful. At one point Samuel was dancing around gesticulating so much he nearly jumped into the medical care providers. The fans gave Collie at best the type of applause you would hear for a violin concerto when he was carried off, followed by immediate resumption of booing.— jimmyj
- Comment removed.
- I was at the game. The play took place right in front of me. The Eagles fans booed vociferously, as they should have initially, due to the fact that the hit was clean, the Eagles should have had the ball and a big play - and the Refs blew the call. The fans, once realizing that Collie was seriously injured, became very quiet - worried for him and respectful. Were there a few drunken idiots who didn't grasp the concept of a man being seriously hurt? Certainly. But the overwhelming majority of fans there - say 95% - handled the situation perfectly. They: a) voiced their displeasure at a horrendous call by the refs, b) quietly watched and prayed/hoped as physicians attended to Collie, c) applauded when Collie was finally taken from the field, and d) booed the refs - possibly the worst crew in Lincoln Financial Field history - once again when play resumed. Chris Chase is just looking for publicity and unfortunately, he is getting it. I wonder if he is married. I wonder if he is, whether or not there were a few idiots who got drunk and made fools of themselves at his wedding. I wonder if that happened whether people said or wrote in blogs the next day that his entire family and all of his friends are drunken idiots, and say that after every party he has had since then....— topwonk
- That call was a joke but not nearly as bad as the brushing the helmet call that continued a game that should have been over. At this rate the NFL should go from tackle to flag sometime in the next few years! I want players to be protected as much as anybody but its a violent sport and an injury doesn't necessarily mean that a penalty was commited.— cujat13
- Love how these D bags try to spin a negative rep on Philly over an incident like this. No one was booing Collie laying on the field, it was a reaction to the refs bad play call. WhatIm tired of is these league protecting teams like the Colts and players like Manning because they are $$$ maker for the league. That play went from a fumble return most likely for a TD if the play wasnt called dead to the Colts getting great field position and a score on the next play! Same with the hand grazing Mannings head... lead to a Colts TD just plays later, when it should have been a fumble recovery! NFL is turning into a JOKE!— Born_Green
- Check Chase's M.O. He was ok with the DeSean hit, but didn't like any other hits that day. He has also recently criticized several Eagles for their hits when there weren't penalties. I don't know why the guy writes this stuff about the team, but he's obviously got a grudge.— HandNik
- That hand to Mannings helmet call against Parker was even more BS. What a wimpy call. Refs try to protect Manning... but they still lost— perros
- Comment removed.
- i think Collie fumbled - and I don't know if there's a way to challenge that - if he caught it and fumbled it, there's no defenseless receiver rule coming into play— phillyinnyc
- From the moment Collie was hit, it was obvious to me at live speed out of the corner my TV screen that he was hurt badly with a (potentially life threatening) head injury. I'm sure some of the fans didn't realize that, but Andy Reid and Asante Samuel surely knew. It was disgraceful for them to be that upset by a penalty when a player is in that kind of situation. If they are that upset by penalties, maybe they should stop being among the league leaders in drawing them...— JesseH
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