Philadelphia Eagles fans are under the national microscope after one of their own, Ryan Caldwell, was seen verbally assaulting a Green Bay Packers fan in viral footage at a playoff game last Sunday.
But the history of abuse against women on the opposing side by the fanbase goes back much further.
Former Dallas Cowboys player DeMarcus Ware, who played a game in Philadelphia every year during his career in Dallas from 2005 to 2013, told Pak Gazette Digital that he once had to witness Eagles fans throwing projectiles dangerous to his mother, Brenda Ann Ware, during a game. his rookie year in 2005.
“My rookie season, when my mom was in the stands, I told her not to wear my jersey, and she was in the front row, and they were there in Philadelphia, they were putting batteries in snowballs and throwing them and one of them hit my mom,” Ware said.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON PakGazette.Com
Watching his mother get caught by a snow-covered battery nearly caused Ware to abandon his football duties and run into the stands to start a fight.
“I turned around at that point and didn’t care about football anymore. I wanted to go find the guy in the stands. But I didn’t,” Ware said.
DeMarcus Ware of the Dallas Cowboys sacks Donovan McNabb (5) of the Philadelphia Eagles during the Eagles’ 10-6 victory over the Cowboys at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. (James D. Smith/Icon SMI/Icon Sport Media via Getty Images)
The linebacker held back, allowing team security to take care of the fan who hurt his mother. But he let the memory of the incident fester in his mind and motivate him every time he took the field against the Eagles.
The Cowboys beat the Eagles 21-20 in that 2005 game in Philadelphia to sweep the season series.
In 17 career games against the Eagles, Ware had 16 total sacks. The Cowboys were 9-8 against their opponents in games Ware played.
Ware had his most vengeful streak against the Eagles in 2011. In January of that year, he scored three sacks in Philadelphia in the 2010 season finale to help seal a 14-13 victory. The following season, in an October game in Philadelphia, he had four sacks, the most he ever had in a game against the archrival. He had two more sacks in the second game against the Eagles that year in December in Dallas.
But despite nearly a decade of animosity against Eagle fans for what they did to his mother, he still respects the will of the fan base. The franchise’s former home, Veterans Stadium, had a courthouse and cells to deal with fans breaking the law, which is not something Ware takes lightly.
“Philadelphia Eagles fans are very, very tenacious fans,” he said.
“When you had a jail at the back of the stadium in the past, when you could go to jail because you misbehaved, even from the point where we played, it was a rivalry battle matchup whether it was up there or at home. And their fans travel well, they are tenacious and that’s what they are.”
Caldwell’s recent viral video has reignited certain stereotypes about the fan base as the team competes for a Super Bowl this season.
THE 5 MOST INFAMOUS SPORTS FAN MOMENTS
January 12, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Eagles fans during a game against the Green Bay Packers in an NFC Wild Card game at Lincoln Financial Field. (Images by Eric Hartline-Imagn)
The footage shows Caldwell calling nearby Packers fans vulgar and sexist names, while mocking the man accompanying her with explicit gestures.
Caldwell has since been fired from his job as a project manager at New Jersey-based BCT Partners. He apologized but also defended himself, insisting that his actions “were not without provocation” and that the viral video “does not show the full context” of what happened.
Still, Caldwell’s abusive behavior is just the latest in a long history of unruly and sometimes illegal behavior by the fan base over the years.
In 1997, during a Monday night game against the San Francisco 49ers, a mischievous Eagles fan fired a flare gun into stands full of other fans, endangering several lives.
After the flare was fired, multiple fistfights broke out around the stadium, as most of the violence was directed at 49ers fans by Eagles fans.
“There were a large number of fights and acts of intimidation, many of them directed at fans wearing 49ers jerseys,” the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote at the time.
After the game, Eagles owner Jeffrie Lurie was forced to condemn his own fans.
“While we feel we have made significant progress in recent years regarding fan conduct at Veterans Stadium, what we witnessed last Monday was certainly a step backwards,” Lurie told reporters at the time. .
In 2018, an Eagles fan was arrested during the NFC divisional playoff game against the Falcons for hitting a Philadelphia police officer’s horse.
According to a police report at the time, a man was expelled because “he was intoxicated and did not have a fine.” After his ejection from Lincoln Stadium, the man walked up to a police officer on a horse and “began punching the horse in the face, neck and shoulder.”
Philadelphia Eagles fans climb poles after taking to the streets. (Pak Gazette Digital)
After the Eagles won the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots that year, multiple violent riots broke out in the city. Looting and destruction were reported at several convenience stores and a local Macy’s department store. Cars were overturned, traffic lights and streetlights were knocked down, and there were even unconfirmed reports of explosions.
One of the most famous examples of unruly behavior by Eagles fans took place back in 1968, when a man dressed as Santa Claus took the field. He was booed relentlessly by fans who were upset over a disappointing season and, like Ware’s mother, even hit him with snowballs.
But it wasn’t limited to snowballs, as he was also hit by beer cans and even sandwiches.
