Facebook post gets NFL Eagles' worker fired

You don't normally associate negative emotions with Philadelphia sports.

In the City of Brotherly Love, they believe in affection, even when the circumstances don't warrant it. Criticism knows no place in Philadelphian hearts and bars.

So perhaps it was odd to the management of the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles that one of their stadium operations workers, Dan Leone, seemed a little upset when the Eagles allowed defensive back Brian Dawkins to sign for the depressingly hapless Denver Broncos.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Mr. Leone posted this on his Facebook page: "Dan is ******* devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver...Dam Eagles are Retarded."

And this is what it feels like when the Eagles fail to make the Super Bowl.

(Credit: Cc Pimp Exposure)

He received a response by telephone from the Eagles: "We've decided to let Dan go to Denver, too. Or to Miami, or Pittsburgh."

Yes, I paraphrase. And yes, Leone was fired. There was no agent to soften the blow or get him a deal to man the west gate with another team.

"I shouldn't have put it up there," Leone confessed to the Inquirer. "I was ticked off, and I let my emotions go, but I didn't offend any one person or target a specific individual."

He apologized "20 million times." But the Eagles merely showed him their talons.

Oh, why is it so hard to forgive humanity's foibles when they become featured on Facebook?

[williamalvarez]

After reading this, I'd say that the Eagles are two times retarded, I don't see why they sneak in somebody's personal life and then fire him because of his opinions.

[this1!]

AGREED

[techman21]

No kidding, that's absurd!

[Pete Bardo]

You don't see? Try drinking a Coke at a Pepsi plant or parking your Chevy truck in a Ford plant parking lot.

Loyalty is everything, but, it is Philadelphia we're talking about.

[gggg sssss]

but Mazdas at GM plants are the reason for teh auto crisis.

[jsibelius]

Unless he's in his stadium uniform in his photo and identifying himself as an employee on his Facebook page, or if he was logging in at work, I don't see how this compares to Coke/Pepsi, Chevy/Ford. Sure you can't drink a Coke at a Pepsi plant, but Pepsi can't regulate what you drink elsewhere when you're out of uniform. I doubt he would have been fired (although I could be wrong) if he had merely said such things in passing. It's only because it was done in print on Facebook, however temporarily, that got him fired.

[Dylan_Wisor]

Why does he talk about himself in the third person?

[eltimablo]

"You don't normally associate negative emotions with Philadelphia sports."

Really? What about throwing snowballs at Santa, or chucking batteries at players we don't like? Because if I remember correctly, Philadelphia sports fans are batsh*t insane (myself included).

[sandor_f]

eltimalbo -

i 100% agree. the first statement of this article should definitely be tongue in cheek.

philadelphia sports fans have huge expectations, and demand nothing less than 100% all the time - it is why iverson was jeered for skipping practice, and runyan and dawkins are admired for playing (at pro bowl caliber) with season-long injuries.

Chris Matyszczyk - non-Philadelphians might mistake your opening statements for truth, without understanding the true blue collar nature of the fans of the Broad Street Bullies, et al.

[ChrisMatyszczyk]

@sandor_f,

MISTAKE my opening statements for truth? Oh, come now. I write for a very clever crowd here, surely....:) They KNOW I only speak the truth....

Thank you for commenting,

Chris

[peterwhite]

Pretty stupid on the part of the Eagles, if anything publically repremand him but allow him to continue working ... then quietly let him go due to excessive tardiness or some little issue.

Now they look like a bully beating up on a hapless operations employee in a dire recession.

[jmcintire]

A wrongful termination lawsuit waiting to happen.