Ray’s Ramblings: The Five Enemies We Made Along The Way
During the grieving process, there are a number of steps that one goes through. As we all continue to mourn the loss of this Eagles season, I would imagine that most people have made their way past denial and onto the angry part of things.
That’s where I find myself today, angry over this lost opportunity. Thus, what better thing to do than to list out those who angered up the most during this wonderful ride of a season?
(This is a trick question, there are a lot of better things to do. I just don’t have the resources or the maturity to do those things.)
In the world of 97.5 The Fanatic, top five lists typically belong to our digital content king Dylan MacKinnon. Nevertheless, here’s my crack at the five enemies we made in Philadelphia along this road to the Super Bowl…
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City of San Francisco
Forty-niners? More like the forty-whiners, am I right? (Crowd boos at an awful joke)
The fanbase of the San Francisco 49ers are continuing to throw themselves the most ridiculous of pity parties and continue to take every possible shot at Eagles fans as they can. Midnight struck for the NFL’s Cinderella story in the form of the Eagles’ pass rush.
Make no mistake, they were dealt with a tough hand, but it’s all about how you respond. The two week media tour that 49ers’ players took to try to discredit the Eagles was truly unfortunate to watch. Like a buddy at the bar who lost the woman of his dreams, but keeps calling her number at 2AM.
#49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk believes that San Francisco was the best team in the NFL this season, despite losing 31-7 in the NFCC to the #Eagles
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 5, 2023
“We have, hands down, the best football team in the league. Hands down."
"I'm not going even going to argue with anyone." pic.twitter.com/Ed2aHuULVx
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Carl Cheffers
The Philadelphia Eagles did not lose because of the refs. Blaming them makes me no better than No. 5 on this list.
However, the fact that I now know the names of the officials from the Super Bowl is not optimal. I will always be of the thought that you don’t leave your fate in the hands of the officials, but I will never forget the hopeless feeling of watching that penalty.
Oh, and I will keep a mental note of this…
Carl Cheffers will be the head referee for the Super Bowl:
— MLFootball (@_MLFootball) February 12, 2023
-The #Eagles are 6-8 in games refereed by Cheffers. That record includes a divisional-round loss to the New Orleans #Saints during the 2018 playoffs.
-The #Chiefs are 16-7 in the 23 games refereed by Cheffers.… pic.twitter.com/9zgsz4rvlk
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JuJu Smith-Schuster
There was no one that had given JuJu Smith-Schuster a second thought in the immediate aftermath of the Super Bowl. Despite being the wide receiver that James Bradberry held, I didn’t really think that Smith-Schuster had been anything too special.
He had a fine game (7 catches, 53 yards) and had a disgustingly bad take on cheesesteaks during the week leading up to the game, but otherwise didn’t offer very much.
And then, he got after it on Twitter.
Happy Valentine’s Day, everybody ❤️ pic.twitter.com/skXuZVgrYR
— JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) February 14, 2023
Enter AJ Brown.
First off congratulations. Y’all deserve it .This is lame. You was on the way out the league before mahomes resurrected your career on your 1 year deal Tik-Tok boy . He admitted that he grabbed you but don’t act like your like that or ever was. But congratulations again! 🎊👏🏾🍻 https://t.co/Z3SpMXnP4K
— AJ BROWN (@1kalwaysopen_) February 14, 2023
As of the writing of this article, a successful ratio from AJ Brown. Good work.
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Chris Simms
Must I say anymore about this guy?
His schtick all season long was to discredit Jalen Hurts. Even as he appeared entirely wrong about Hurts and stood just days away from watching him in the Super Bowl, he fired off one more shot.
“Playing QB for the Eagles right now is set up to be one of the easier QB jobs in the sport”
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) February 8, 2023
-Chris Simms admits he was wrong about Jalen Hurts but says Jalen is not top 10 passer in NFL 👀
🎧Pod with @CSimmsQB on Jalen & Eagles fans in his mentions😂⬇️https://t.co/2DH3zYwU54 pic.twitter.com/B6Kgo8bRu3
Jalen Hurts in Super Bowl 57: 27-38, 304 passing yards, 70 rushing yards, 4 total TDs
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“The Sodfather”
Once again, the Eagles lost the game on their own. There will be no blaming people other than the ones who did not get their job done on the field.
However, you can’t have an awesome nickname like “The Sodfather” and screw up the biggest sporting event of the year. This isn’t forgetting to water your neighbors’ plants while they are away for the weekend, this is the Super Bowl.
This man dedicated his life to this beautiful game and was given more money than most people will see in their lifetime to put together the field.
AND IT WAS ATROCIOUS!
The NFL has spent two years preparing the grass for tonight's field at the Super Bowl.
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) February 12, 2023
The grass was grown at a local sod farm in Phoenix.
It was installed two weeks ago, and the field has been rolled out each morning for daily sunshine.
Total cost = $800,000 pic.twitter.com/Um8zZala2O
Two years spent on this only to end up with the world’s best athletes looking like they were on skates.
The real Super Bowl MVP tonight is George Toma.
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) February 12, 2023
He is 94 years old and has been a groundskeeper for the Athletics, Royals, and Chiefs.
He has prepared fields for 37 Pro Bowls, several World Series, and EVERY SINGLE SUPER BOWL IN HISTORY.
His nickname? "The Sodfather" 🐐 pic.twitter.com/9460UCsZe4
Enjoyed catching up with the Sodfather, as George Toma told me and @TomPelissero this will be his last Super Bowl. “I’m 94, you know.” Major respect to the world’s expert on grass. pic.twitter.com/EFkMG0gNLV
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 12, 2023
The Sodfather had a worse final season than Tom Brady.
Honorable Mentions
Kelly Clarkson: She wrote “Since U Been Gone” which is a certified banger, but her disaster of an attempt at a joke at the Eagles’ expense was unfortunate.
— Haley Taylor Simon (@Haleytsimon) February 10, 2023
I was nice this time around, don’t do it again.
Julian Love: Who can forget this talking point?
Some interesting Nick Sirianni comments from Giants safety Julian Love on GMFB this morning. pic.twitter.com/xdxeKGjuhD
— Bob Wankel (@Bob_Wankel) February 2, 2023
Love has since deleted his quote tweet of what he said about Sirianni and then retweeted James Bradberry’s tweet on Tuesday afternoon about being an All-Pro.
So…
He gets a pass for now.
