Philadelphia Eagles fans are under a national microscope after one of their own, Ryan Caldwell, was seen verbally assaulting a Green Bay Packers fan in viral footage during a playoff game last Sunday .
But the history of abuse committed by fans against women on the opposing side goes back much further than that.
Former Dallas Cowboys player DeMarcus Ware, who played a game in Philadelphia every year during his career in Dallas from 2005 to 2013, told Fox News Digital that he once saw Eagles fans throw dangerous projectiles at his mother, Brenda Ann Ware, during a game. its first 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 up there in Philadelphia, they were putting batteries in snowballs and throwing them and one of them hit my mother,” Ware said.
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Seeing his mother get pinned by a snow-covered battery almost prompted Ware to abandon his football duties and run into the stands to start a fight.
“I turned around at that point and I wasn’t interested in football anymore. I wanted to go get the guy that was 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 deal with the fan who had 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 this 2005 game in Philadelphia to sweep the season series.
In 17 career games against the Eagles, Ware had 16 total sacks. The Cowboys went 9-8 against their rivals in games played by Ware.
Ware had his most vengeful period against the Eagles in 2011. In January of that year, he had three sacks against Philadelphia in the 2010 season finale to help seal a 14-13 victory. The following season, in an October game at Philadelphia, he had four sacks, the most he ever had in a game against his 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 fans’ wishes. The franchise’s former home, Veterans Stadium, had a courthouse and jail cells on site to deal with fans who broke the law, something Ware doesn’t take lightly.
“Philadelphia Eagles fans are very, very determined fans,” he said.
“When you had a prison at the base of the stadium back then, when you could go to prison for doing wrong, even every time we played, it was a rivalry matchup whether it was up there or at home. And their fans, they travel well, they’re just tenacious, and that’s just who they are.
Caldwell’s recent viral video has reignited some stereotypes among fans as the team contends for a Super Bowl this season.
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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. (Eric Hartline-Imagn Images)
The footage shows Caldwell calling nearby Packers fans vulgar and sexist names, while taunting the man accompanying him with explicit gestures.
Caldwell has since been fired from his position as project manager at New Jersey-based BCT Partners. He apologized but also defended himself by insisting that his actions “were not unprovoked” and that the viral video “does not show the full context” of what happened.
Yet Caldwell’s abusive behavior is just the latest in a long history of unruly and sometimes illegal behavior from fans over the years.
In 1997, during a Monday night game against the San Francisco 49ers, a mischievous Eagles fan fired a flare gun into the stands filled with other fans, endangering several lives.
After the flare was fired, several fist fights broke out around the stadium, with most of the violence directed at 49ers fans by Eagles fans.
“There were a large number of fights and acts of intimidation, many 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 believe we have made significant progress in recent years regarding fan behavior at Veterans Stadium, what we witnessed last Monday was undoubtedly 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 from the time, a man was expelled because “he was intoxicated and did not have a ticket.” After being ejected from Lincoln Stadium, the man walked toward a police officer mounted on a horse and “began punching the horse in the face, neck and shoulders.”
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Philadelphia Eagles fans climb poles after taking to the streets. (Fox News Digital)
After the Eagles won the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots that year, several violent riots broke out in the city. Looting and destruction were reported at several convenience stores and a local Macy’s department store. Cars have been overturned, traffic lights and lamp posts have been torn down, and there have even been unconfirmed reports of explosions.
One of the most famous examples of unruly behavior by Eagles fans occurred in 1968, when a man dressed as Santa Claus entered the field. He was booed relentlessly by fans unhappy with a disappointing season and, like Ware’s mother, was even hit with snowballs.
But it didn’t stop with snowballs, as he was also hit with beer cans and even sandwiches.
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