There is this narrative that Philly fans are the worst fans in sports. They run athletes out of town, they are to hard on their athletes, or the fans are not supportive.
Non-philly fans will always bash the fan base after the Carson Wentz and Ben Simmons saga. The Wentz saga went like this. Carson had an MVP caliber season that helped the franchise win the Super Bowl even after he went down with an ACL injury. Since that magical season, he was never able to come close to that level of talent. In 2020, the Eagles drafted Jalen Hurts. Instead of stepping up and taking on the competition, Wentz put up historically horrible numbers, and was eventually benched in favor of Hurts. At the end of the season, Wentz demanded a trade, and was sent to the Colts. The only reason he demanded the trade was because he was not promised the starting QB job in 2021. Philly fans were rightfully upset. They backed this QB all season as he struggled and as soon as he showed some sense of pressure, he turns his back.
The Ben SImmons situation was much more public. This is a man who has faced criticism by the entire NBA since he was drafted in 2016. Philly fans supported him every step of the way. Then comes the 2021 playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks. A series where Simmons struggled tremendously. He could not hit free-throws, passed up a wide-open layup, and overall terrible performance. That is when the Philly faithful had enough. They were tired of backing him when he made no effort at improving his game. He eventually was so upset with how the fans treated him after the series is that he wanted out of Philly. I am sorry, but we supported him from day 1 and did up until game 7.
Those are two individuals that helped give Philly fans a bad rep. In reality, they are the two that turned their backs on their franchises, could not handle the pressure, and overall are not fit to play in this city.
Then comes Phillies 3B Alec Bohm. After a 3 error game against the New York Mets, Bohm was able to regroup and get a clean out during the game. Philly fans frustrated by the performance, sarcastically cheered for the out. After the play the camera operator panned over to Bohm who seems to say " I F****** hate this place" to SS Didi Grigorius. That video went viral immediately and Bohm was obviously asked about it post-game.
Here is what he had to say post-game:
That was an absolute perfect response. He owned up to his mistake and admits he did not mean it. Wentz or Simmons would have quickly blamed the fans, would have taken zero responsibility, and would have started more drama. However, Bohm owned up to his mistake and Philly fans appeared to have appreciated that.
All Philly fans want is ownership in mistakes. Bohm was able to do that, and the Philly faithful showed him they have his back. Philly fans do not want to hear excuses. They want their players to give it all on the field, take responsibility, and win.
I am willing to guarantee that if Simmons would have owned up to his horrible performance against the Hawks, that Philly fans would have welcomed him back. Instead he threw a temper tantrum and wanted out. If Wentz would have said he didn't play well and deserved to be benched and would have welcomed a QB competition, then maybe the fans would not be upset. Take a note from Alec Bohm. He took ownership of his mistakes, and Philly fans backed their third baseman.
One thing I have learned as a Philly fan, is we will back our players until the end. We constantly support them and have a passion bigger than any other fan base to win. When we win the party is something that we have never seen before (Broad Street may never recover from Super Bowl 52.) We constantly back our guys as the national media bashes them. We all see how the national media is treating Joel Embiid.
Even new Phillies player Nick Castellanos chimed in on the situation with Philly fans.
Philly athletes need to understand somethings. This fan base is passionate about their teams. They are passionate about a few things, and if you've met a Philly fan, they will ride with those until the day they die. The fan base is smart, it may not seem like it but we are no dummies. Take ownership and don't BS us. For as quickly as we will support you, we will turn on you as soon as you turn on us. If you do turn your back on us and leave the city because you can not handle it, don't be shocked when you get a welcome back to Philly like Ben Simmons.
Philly fans will probably still have a bad reputation amongst the world, that is fine. Philly fans know how passionate we are, and that will never change. People can continue to bash the city, but remember we will ride with our guys till we can't no more.
I think it is only fitting to end this article with a message sung by our very own Jason Daniel Kelce on how I feel to anyone who still wants to hate Philly fans for being "too mean."
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