Did You See This?

A Philadelphia Eagles gate chief was fired because he voiced his opinion on an Eagles management decision on the Facebook. He criticized the decision not to bring popular veteran safety Brian Dawkins and instead let him sign with Denver. This is according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

"Dan is [expletive] devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver," gate keeper Dan Leone wrote on his Facebook page, probably in the status bar. "...Dam Eagles R Retarded!"

Was it smart for Leone to do this? No. Not the best idea to call your employer retarded. But this kind of commentary is that of a fan. Sure, he is a gate chief at Lincoln Financial Field and watches 70,000 Eagles fans pile in for eight games a year, which makes him an employee of the team. But he's also an Eagles fan, and can identify with each and every person that enters and exits that stadium week after week.

His judgment may not have been great, but that's no reason for the guy to lose his job. He's just frustrated, like many Eagles fans are, that one of the most beloved players in the history of the franchise has moved on.

He worked there for six years, and the team didn't even bring him in to discuss it. They just fired him over the phone, and that was that. Couldn't they have brought him in to discuss it? Leone took the message down before he was fired, and apologized as he put it, "20-million times".

He admitted it was poor judgment, but what he said wasn't really all that terrible. He didn't offend one particular person, even though the comments could be interpreted as offensive remarks. All they say to me is this is a frustrated Eagles fan who will miss seeing Brian Dawkins sprint out onto Lincoln Financial Field.

It's too bad Dan Leone was fired. Sports teams should hope their employees have as much passion about their team as Leone did, despite his poor judgment.