Rendell slams decision to postpone Eagles game
Add Governor Ed Rendell to the list of people who think the Eagles should have gone ahead and played Sunday night's game against the Vikings as scheduled.
Rendell slams decision to postpone Eagles game
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Add Governor Ed Rendell to the list of people who think the Eagles should have gone ahead and played Sunday night's game against the Vikings as scheduled.
Rendell ripped the decision to postpone the game during an interview with FOX 29 Sunday night.
"I think it's a joke," Rendell said. "I mean, we cancel the game and there's less than 3 inches of snow in Montgomery County, where a lot of our fans come from. There's less than 2 inches in Wilimington where a lot of our fans come from. In Philadelphia, we've got a great subway system. Broad Street is fine. The Parkway is fine. 95 and the Expressway are clear. I think the fans can make their own judgements about their own safety. This is football. Good lord, Vince Lombardi would be spinning in his grave if we cancelled a football game over this amount of snow."
Rendell and John Bolaris actually got in a mini-argument over whether Philadelphia had gotten around 5 inches or 7 inches of snow.
"It's a decision that fans make for themselves," Rendell continued. "I think football is a cold-weather sport. It should be played unless there are blizzard conditions. This is in no way, shape or form a blizzard. As I said, we haven't had one incident on our roads. The roads are all clear. We've got a great subway system. And it's football. Good lord, you schedule a football game for Dec. 26, and you expect that you might have snow."
Ron Fritz of The Baltimore Sun points out in a blog post that the Ravens and Bears played last year in Baltimore after a blizzard hit the region. He argues that Baltimore must just be tougher than Philadelphia when it comes to snow.
Video of the Rendell interview is embedded below.
If you're looking for actual football-related information, I posted updated Eagles playoff scenarios on Sunday evening.
And as you probably know by now, Eagles-Cowboys in Week 17 has been moved to a 4:15 p.m. start. Bears-Packers is also a 4:15 kickoff so the Birds will not know when they take the field next weekend whether their game has meaning or not.
In other words, unless they lose to the Vikings Tuesday, the starters will (and should) play the whole game against Dallas.
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Comments (80)
Mr. Rendell seems blithely oblivious to the fact that of the tens of thousands of Chinese whom he said would have walked to that game, as many as half would have died or been seriously injured in that weather.
Does Mr. Rendell really expect that thousands of the people he was elected to serve owe it to him to risk life and limb just so he can watch a football game on television?
Mr. Rendell, you really have an inordinately excessive idea of your own importance. In my opinion, that attitude of yours is grosser than anything Mark Sanford ever did. You have the attitude of a leader who would snd thousands of troops in harm's way just because you think it would be wussy not to fight a war.— JimRyan- Too bad that the national media, where fast Eddie is probably going to make most of his post-guvenatorial pay, doesn't report on the opinions here. I actually heard a host on one of the Sunday shows introduce Rendell by talking about his "great success" as Pennsylvania'a governor. Are you kidding me???— Mandela
Comment removed.- Rendell is a moron and did nothing but embarass the city with all his comments since we've supported him for all of these years. While I agree that there are some reasons that the nation is turning in to a bunch of wusses, this is not one of them and his points did not help his argument. Vince Lombardi was embarassed that they had to play the Ice Bowl with the field in that condition after he had bragged about his heated field. The other insane comments about the Chinese?? I have a weird feeling the Chinese would have looked at this rationally and realized that a pretty large percentage of fans would not have shown up and realized that would mean less concessions, parking revenue, fan gear, etc and would therefore not make sense economically. They probably would have come up with a better excuse than fan safety for why the game needed to be moved to Tuesday though because all this comes down to is that they don't want to waste Mike Vick and possibly one of Brett Favre's last games on a split Monday night showing where the game could only be televised locally. That's 80% of what this was about, money. The NFL now gets 5 prime time games this week starting with tonight's Saints-Falcons matchup and still gets a national audience for Mike Vick and the Eagles. This isn't really rocket science, which makes the Gov seem even dumber.— PhilsPhorever
- Gov. Rendell what a joke!! Mr. Toughguy lost his dream photo-op. He wanted to have his driver park in his private parking space, sit in a warm luxury skybox with five star accommodations,and have the perfect photo-op for a real phony by periodically venturing out in the cold driving snow for 5 or 10 minutes to mingle with the the frozen Philly fans.
Mr. Doughboy forgets that regular fans don't travel in his comfortable circle and that no one ( stadium or TV audience) would have a good view of the action, just like the fog bowl in Chicago. Thank goodness the game was postponed.— lee mira - I heard that he also said that we are turning into a nation of wuzzies. Well Ed, thats because the liberals have been getting what they want, and the liberals are a part of the Democratic Party, which you are a member of. Did You ever think of that. Oh by the way, I remember you said Eagles fans would rue the day that the Eagles traded Donovan McNabb. How wrong you are on that one also. You should apologize to Eagles fans for some of the remarks you made when commenting about the fans. Just because you go to the games and are a commentator, doesn't make you any smarter, or more of an authority about the Eagles than the average fan who follows the Birds every season.— watsonmr
- Ed Rendell lost his remaining credibility in the latter years of his elected term. Eddie, you're way off on this one and you've now graduated to PURE windbag status. Time to go back to the proverbial 700 level and stuff your pie hole.— cgrock
- Rendell isn't concerned about anyones safety--- his bookie is the one
who is really mad.— maryronline - fix the traffic on 422 first ed, then go watch an eagles game, loser— tooltime
- THIS IS A TOTAL JOKE. THE GAME WAS POSTPONED B/C OF $$$. IF THEY WOULD HAVE PLAYED YESTERDAY, THE CONCESSION $$$ AND PARKING $$$ WOULD HAVE BEEN WAY WAY DOWN. AND TONIGHT, COMPETING WITH MNF, THE TV $$$ WOULD HAVE BEEN WAY, WAY DOWN. SO WHY NOT HAVE THE GAME ON TUESDAY, WHEN THERE IS NO BAD WEATHER AND NO TV COMPETITION, THUS ENSURING THAT THE TEAM MAKES ITS FULL POTENTIAL OF $$$$. DUH. THE LEAGUE AND THE TEAM ENSURE MAX $$$ WITH THIS DECISION.
UNFORTUNATELY THIS WILL SET A BAD PRECEDENT. ALL ABOUT THE $$$.— Crystal Ball - How inconsiderate, unlike him, not everyone has a SUV, not everyone live in the city. Does he know that public transportation sucks in Philly? When was the last time he took subway or Septa training? We are talking about 7 to 18 inches of snow. I understand it is up to the fans decide if they should go to the game but for avg folks, they will try to make the game as the tickets cost hundreds. I thought part of the governor's responsibility is to take care of people's safety. I don't see him saying let the people decide if they want to wear seatbelt or not.
From football's perspective, why do you want Vick and Jackson play in a snowstorm, what if something happen to them? There is nothing to gain. I know it sucks to have a short week to prepare for the Boys but we play them twice a year!— tinsterhk - Please, make Fast Eddie Chairman of the National Democratic Party again!— ngfs66
- Rendell's comments have been all over the national news and he sounds like the self-centered blowhard he is. When has he ever had to drive himself anywhere, let alone in blizzard conditions? Apparently the only people he really cares about are the "friends" he will be entertaining with campaign funds before he leaves office.— ChescoMom
- Rendell is the king of idiots. Foaming at the mouth like a rabid dog.
- I don't understand why it is okay for Ed to comment on the Eagles postponement but everyone gets all worked up when Obama makes a comment about Vick— ljesteves
Bad judgment on Governor Toga's part this time...- Ed is an idiot you need think about about safety 1st .act like an adult as Pa Governor. we do not need to hear him comments about football and calling USA wusses He is biggest wuss of all— hannigan
- Yes, fans can make their own judgments...and when they get in an accident in the snow after midnight they can just pull up their bootstraps and rescue themselves.— dude
- easy for him to say, he comes in a limo and sits in the heated enclosed super boxes and stuffs his face, its a night away from Midge.— AIR MGTJR
- who cares what that fat a__ rendell thinks...he probably has his state police suv driving his fat a__ all around anyway... You talka about a total jerk it's rendell....what his approval rating at now 18%.....only a few more weeks of fat a__ to bumble on about...one of the worst govenors ever....by fast eddie and don't let the door hit you in the $$$— frank1121
- Rendell is a raging idiot. Simply put, he should keep his mouth shut and get lost--go anywhere--the farther from us the better...— oblekr
- I am sure this governor knows all about snow and driver safety. Oh wait. Was it this governor who did not know about the I-78 problems back in 2007 when they had to shut down the road because "PennDot" screwed up and he knew nothing about it?..wink,wink. Oh yeah, and many drivers sat in their cars for days!! Maybe he should have called the NFL to see if he should have shut down that road earlier.— kaciekarly
- It's not about Rendell. He does need to be pulled from the Comcast set along with Hebron. But the game should have been played because traditionally the NFL always plays no matter what the weather. It's TRADTION to play no matter what the weather. Now that precedent has been set expect more weather cancellations.— greenflyer
- The biggest blessing is that Rendell will soon be out of office. Of course, he'll surely still be eating like a pig at the public trough through his connections with Ballard, Spahl, et all.— Mandela
- Rendell needs to concentrate on PA and pipe down about sports. This guy is a clown. I am tired of him wasting time on tv talking about the Eagles. Stick to politics you dope.— Ferrell31
- I'm a big fan of Ed, but I'm sad to see him take this position. As a season ticket holder, I wasn't going to spend 3+ hours 20 degree temps, snow and especially the 30+ mph winds. At least I can now go to the game and not lose the money I spent on the tickets. Rendell probably sits in a warm, comfortable box to watch the game. I guess he says "the hell with those schleps" who actually have to sit in the stands and freeze in those conditions.— r white
- dpg508, I agree with your comment. Unfortunately, where the money comes from would puzzle Rendell. "Obviously", it comes from that bottomless pit called the taxpayers.— Mandela
- Rendell's wrong - hindsight is foolproof, but he's just a fool. The real fault lies with NBC - the game should never have been moved from 1:00 in the first place, and if it had to be postponed, should have been played tonight (Monday). At least we didn't have to suffer through Rendell's post-game appearance on CSN last night.
I never in my lifetime thought I'd agree with Fast Eddie on a subject, but guess what? He's right! And didn't John Bolaris have a little trouble with a weather prediction once before that landed him in a heap of trouble?? I think he was incognito for years after that prediction! Laughable.— dogman5- How do you spell LOSER?
I spell it Ed Rendell!!— truebluehen - So, Rendell declares state of emergency across the state and then he says the storm isn't that bad and complains the Eagles didn't play? Hypocrite. How much longer will he be in office?— awl
- Shut-up Rendell!!!! After seeing what you did to this state, why would anyone listen to what you have to say. Retire and stay home, outta site and outta mind.— BGarber
- The city has major financial issues and Rendell wants the city to go out and make sure that the stadium area is ready for the football game. Where does all that overtime money come from to pay for the extra cops, plows, etc...? I wanted to watch the game but the city can't afford it.— dpg508
- Rendell should have a piece of SHUTY-PIE and practice a little humility. The NFL made the decision to call the game, not the Eagles. It had nothing to do with the snow, it had to do with the fact blizzard conditions were in the forecast. The safety of its fans became the factor. Safety isn't something Fast Eddy isn't capable of thinking about, its just his ego.
Thank God you people in PA came to your senses and voted him and his do nothin cronies out of office...— yukon58 - JBinPA, you're an idiot. Were you planning to drive to the game?— Mandela
- Fast Eddie was probably upset because he had a "date" after the post game show. He had to come up with another excuse to Midge for why he was going to be home so late.— Mandela
- Rendell is a joke. As many said, he didn't see any transportation problems because he had a chaufered limosine. I wonder if his driver kept it under 80?— Mandela
I used to like Rendell, and his antics! Now it's a bit old. The cancellation was for the saftey of the fans!!! The fans that fill the seats, and pay good money!!— dexter55- Hopefully Comcast will come to it's senses and replace this garbage bag with someone else for Eagles Postgame. The show is outstanding except for his idiocy.— Bob1
It must be nice to to driven around in a limo with a police escort. I'm sure Rendell never has a problem getting around the city no matter what the weather conditions are.— ej610- Idiotic decision by the NFL and Eagles; this is FOOTBALL not chess!
Next weekend, do they postpone games because it's raining? How about kinda chilly? Or maybe because it gets dark early and fans would be at risk?
What a joke; they don't care about the fans at all; it's all about $$$$$$$$!— JBinPA - Oh my gosh, I think your right. It is all about the $$$$. You know, I think other things are run like this as well.
Keep up the good work!— dpg508 - Why does this blowhorn insist on being on TV and pretending he knows anything about football? Every time he opens his mouth it's just a complete embarrassment to the city of Philadelphia, and this time the national syndicates are all picking it up and running with it
- Rendel appeared to be underminding the mayor's decision for the state of emergency along the way. Also, don't a lot of fans cross the bridges from Jersey? He looked like an idiot. Perhaps if he spent more time on governing and less on football, the state might be in better shape. Can't wait till he's gone and I'll never vote for him again.— kmon
- I totally agree, Of course a person who is driven to games in a limo, has a group people to help lift his 300 plus lb fat*&^ out the limo, sit on a comfy leather recliner in a warm luxury skybox, and has NEVER played a sport besides badminton in his teens, think we are Woossies!! — lee mira
- what a short sighted idiot.
I'm a rendell fan but this time he's just plain wrong.
ever hear of the expression, err on the side of caution?
it's a GAME!! Your life is NOT worth a game!!!— bingo - I left work in Delco at 2:30 headed for Huntingdon Valley. I took 76 home. It wasn't clear, in fact it wasn't very good for cars that don't have 4WD. Ed Rendell isn't looking at the big picture. He says Philadelphia has a great subway system. OK, but how do Wilmingon, New Jersey and Montgomery County, and Delaware County, Chester County and Bucks county benefit from that? They don't. As governor of Pennsylvania he still needs to put public safety ahead of everything else. The visibility was poor. We would've been watching a terrible game in the conditions, we would have watched an awful game. Ed Rendell, you are a moron, and you shouldn't be on anything to do with football because your opinion is only the opinion of you and not reasonable fans.— EC1981
Yo rendell...STFU.— The Monk- Please Jesus, make this guy shut his yap. Rendell is pathetic. He's like the loud-mouthed woman at the party who spends an hour saying good-bye to the host at midnight...the NFL made the right decision to postpone this game. The storm hit at precisely the worst time. There would have been about 40,000 drunk or buzzed people playing ice hockey in their SUV's at midnight with six inches of snow on the ground and forty MPH winds whipping thru the parking lots. I think Skinny Ed has early onset Alzheimers...— The Monk
- Ed was furious he had to give his chauffeur the night off and also angry that his mindless windbag gig on the Comcast postgame show was postponed until Tuesday, his bowling night.— chuckw
- Old fast slick eddie is a jerk and has no clue......He is corrupt and they should fire him off the sports show...as he is an idiot there also.....— nuggett
- Christie...Not sure what you were trying to say but I guess I can speak on it since I have been a STH for the Eagles dating back to the last couple seasons at the vet. So coming from a guy who its in section 204 row 5, I am glad they called the game for the safety of the people traveling to the game and the potential for mayhem that could follow with massive amounts of snow— rvb2321
- That's priceless. Our lame duck sloppy Governor slamming responsible decision-makers because he was deprived of his presumed right to sit on his fat arse in the cozy Comcast studio while he sipped hot cocoa and cheered for his Eagles. I'm certain his driver and entourage would have stopped to help the everyday Joe's who didn't have the luxury of a security escort and got stuck in the snow. Poor Ed.— birdseed
- Doesn't Eddie have to wash Obama's feet or something?
- This coming from the same guy, who endorsed John Street for mayor. Guess he hated missing out on the studio buffet. Don't worry Ed, you wipe away the mayo after talking about vick tuesday night.— winsumtimeeagles
- Why Eddie keeps getting the publicity for football amazes me...It's not like Comcast needs him for ratings on the postgame show nor does the Daily News or Inquirer need his 2 cents for football! The man knows nothing about football, expresses silly opinions (Ricky Williams over Donovan McNabb anyone???) and blurts out comments from the hip (isn't he a public servant who needs to be interested in the people and their safety???) Everyone does not get a helicopter to the games Eddie! Is Comcast so gregarious as to need him in their clan??? Vaughn Hebron- Check, Ray Didinger, Check- Ed Rendell? NO Thank you!
— jayram - Russ, your wrong and your comments are right from a Glen Beck playbook: "In 2003, Governor Ed Rendell repealed the helmet law for motorcycle riders in Pennsylvania" -- so actually, Eddie's comments were in line...you see the "liberal" gov you are told to hate by Rush and Glen Becky has a track record opposite of what you wrote. In other words, your comment is wrong. Get it? How's the "truth" thing workin for ya?! You really should turn off Fox and get in touch with the real world.— MichaelZoe
- Comment removed.
- Rendell is a complete embarrassment to this city and state. You can easily disagree with the canceling of the game but as the top representative for the citizens of Pennsylvania you must realize that the well being and safety of your constituents come first. Not everyone has a motorcade that takes them to and from the game.
BTW isn't he one of the clowns who threw snowballs at the Dallas game that one year. Its people like you that the NFL took in consideration for the cancellation. MORON— rvb2321 - So Rendell thinks fans can make their own decisions concerning their safety? This coming from a liberal who believes government should tell us what to do in every facet of our life. Does your belief in freedom to make our own decisions extend to seatbelts, helmets, what food we can eat and the hundreds of other issues your nanny state tries to ram down our throat? Ed, you are a fake and a fraud. You don't know alot about football, either...— Russ
- So I guess you're totally wrong about liberals since Rendell doesn't dictate public safety, and he changed the law so you don't need a helmet to ride a motorcycle. Shouldn't you be thanking him for not taking your guns away? — ej610
- Russ, anyone who uses the word "nanny" when trying to appear like tough guy right winger is a fraud. You keep spinning the fraud that is THE ACTOR, Ronald Reagan, trickle down, and free market competition. If you weren't crushed by the Wall Street meltdown and aren't a banker, then no worries, your time will come soon. You will eventually realize this country has been on a collision course with disaster in education, in the market, food, safety, jobs, etc. while the rich get richer on the banking industry. Only a quilty Repub would bash "liberals" about football when YOUR right wing bankers, Harvard folks mostly, ruined the economy and then begged for a bailout. From Bush to Geitner to Paulson...all Ivy League, mostly Harvard MBA grabs. They allowed the markets to implode, then bailed them out. That is FACT and really simple to explain. I guess your home watching Sara Palin's Alaska reruns and affirming "she didn't quit." GO FAST EDDIE! NEXT CHIEF OF STAFF! — MichaelZoe
- Russ, dead on with what I was thinking about Rendell last night while hearing him rant. I could not have written it better myself. — PhillyHardcore
- The league called Mike Vick and asked him what he wanted to do and he commented that he and Desean Jacksonn were deep into a scintillating game of Wii and did not knoiw if they could be done in time. Plus momma had just made some sweet potatoe pie and some Maple Ham and they were going to tough it out by the fireplace. Plus Mike Pattersen was stoppin by with a blunt.— rockinrob
- I thought Rendell came off like an idiot ranting about them postponing the game. He is a politician, supposedly - NOT a sports analyst or commentator like he pretends he is. He would be better off sticking to trying to do his real job & fix what's wrong with this country instead of throwing tantrums over postponed Eagles games. It was a public safety issue. I get that everyone was disappointed, but come on, Rendell.— kat20
- Goodell prob made a promise (last year) to the eagles brain-trust, if you take vick you'll get a SB...Goodell can't take the chance of vick/jackson getting hurt in the snow, then it would look like a real set up to have a backup QB and suspect D get to the SB
— keepitreal1234 - Rendell made an idiot of himself last night. " I think fans can make judgments about their own safety." It was unbelievable that he said that. Thousands of fans driving to and from the stadium dealing with PennDOT crews that were trying to keep the roads clear. Snow covered parking lots with thousands of fans looking to get home at the end of the game. Some of them even sober. Does it sound like a recipe for disaster? The NFL which sets the standard for greed even showed more common sense than Rendell. Hopefully, Rendell enjoys a long and happy retirement.— syddan26
- You make a great point. Rendell has a private parking space for his police escorted limo so he doesn't know what real fans go through. — ej610
- So Mr Rendell is politicky for his next job---NFL Commissioner----Goodell could very well be exited since CBA and players do not want him anymore and they are putting pressure on owners to make the change---with Art Rooney and the Steelers leading the way.— Romus
- what a colossal buffoon.— Jerome99RIP
- Rendell should next run for baloney king— stoky
- Thank heaven for Rendell, savior of NFL football. The decision was a no-brainer. OF course some people could have made it to the game. Some couldn't. These decisions are about public safety, and school superintendants and such won't have a batting average of much better than .500 on these questions. I feel for the fans that can't come Tuesday. Other than that, this wasn't a ballet or art gallery opening, or something important. It was the NFL. No biggie. I also feel for the players, who will have a short week to prepare for the last game.— tacklinjoe
- Governor Rendell would be driven to and from the game and would not have to sit on the snowy seats in the snowy stands. The decision had to be made early to prevent people from getting on the dangerous roads and driving distances. A lot of snow did fall and a lot more had been predicted when the decision was made. Mayor Nutter had declared a snow emergency and all but essential traffic was to keep off the roads. A football game is not essential to risk life and limb. The Eagles could have played if they wanted to and given everyone a refund or raincheck. I was appalled when I heard the Governor's comments live on Fox 29!— freedy
- Rendell is an idiot. The trains to the burbs don't run past 11:00 and what about the travel schedules for PATCO? I guess all the fans live in PA and DE!— overtaxed
- You're an idiot overtaxed; what the hell does the game being postponed have to do with public transportation?
FYI, for an 8:20 game, the schedules are the same whether it snows or not.— JBinPA - He brought up public transportation because Rendell did. Did you read the article? — ej610
- Go get'em Eddie!— lgeagles
- The NFL made the decision in the morning when everyone was predicting 12 inches and high winds - Rendell is like a banging gong - would someone please wipe off the mayonnaise he constantly has in the corners of his mouth - guy makes me gag every time he is on camera— puddin
- Kind of like what they predicted in Minnesota for last week's game between the Bears and the Vikings. That game was played.
The reason this game was postponed was money. The Eagles stood to lose parking and concessions money because fewer fans would have gone to the game and more would have not driven. That is why. They don't care if you're safe, just that they get every single dollar they can out of your pocket.— JSaq - Didn't he also say trading DonnieMac was a mistake & the eagles would pay for it....
Not only is FA$T Eddies STEALING money from PA, he's also STEALING money from Comcast!
I sure hope this LOSER isn't back next season!!!— truebluehen
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About this blog
Sheil Kapadia is in his fifth season writing about the Eagles and the NFL for philly.com. His earliest
memories as a sports fan include several trips to Veterans Stadium with
his Dad. He's not a beat writer or an Insider, but is here to
discuss the NFL 365 days a year. E-mail him at skapadia@philly.com or
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