Fan Fight at Eagles Game Ends With Flying Cheesesteak
PHILADELPHIA- WTXF -
Just as the stadium announcer said the word "Philadelphia," a Philly cheesesteak came flying through the air.
Local journalist David Miller was at the Eagles game Monday night, and when former Eagles running back Brian Westbrook was inducted to the Eagles’ Hall of Fame at halftime, Miller decided to film it, in part to show the festivities to his brother at home. As fans watching at home were instead treated to the new Star Wars trailer at halftime, the Westbrook ceremony was not shown on TV.
As the all-time great Eagle was being honored on the field, a drunken altercation erupted near where Miller was sitting- a dispute, he said, involving an intoxicated fan who had wandered into the wrong section and accused another fan of drinking his beer. The fight escalated to the point at which the drunken fan threw a bag containing a cheesesteak and beer at his foe- but missed, and hit Miller.
In the linked video, which contains some salty language, the cheesesteak arrives in the closing seconds, just in time for the stadium PA announcer to say the name of the city with which that particular delicacy is most associated.
Miller, editor of the website IndependentPhilly.com, was unhurt, and the next morning he posted the video to Facebook, where it drew the attention of local sports blogs. He at one point worried that he had a black eye or blood on his face- a potentially serious concern, as Miller is getting married next month- but the “blood” turned out to be ketchup. Ironically, Miller's site is currently running a promotion for this weekend's Philadelphia Cheesesteak Festival.
Not long after the toss, the cheesesteak assailant was taken away by stadium security. And while he had chosen to fight rather than watch Westbrook, an all-time Eagles great, receive a once-in-a-lifetime honor, the man was ironically wearing a Westbrook jersey at the game.
Plus, he wasted a perfectly good cheesesteak. At the Linc, those things aren’t cheap.
In the original post, Miller noted that, even though the Eagles were playing the Giants and there was a high-profile fight between fans of the teams the same night, the incident was one of several he noticed in which Eagles fans fought among themselves.
“Ease up on the birds on birds crime Philly,” he advised.