A Philadelphia Eagles fan is beginning to face the serious consequences of his actions after screaming at a Green Bay Packers fan in the Philly stadium.
During the NFL Wild Card round of the playoffs last Sunday Packer fan Alexander Basara posted a clip on X of an Eagles fan heckling his fiancée, who was decked out in Packers gear. “What it’s like going to Philly just trying to root for your team,” his post read, along with a video of the interaction.
“Unprovoked, uncalled for. Packers Twitter, help me out and find this guy …. this is not okay. I hate that my fiancée had this happen simply cheering for her team.,” he added.
The video shows the man leaning over to begin taunting Basara’s fiancée over something that happened on the field. He continued to call her insulting names, repeatedly using the phrase: “She’s an ugly, dumb c***” until Basara stepped in to tell him to stop.
On Tuesday an NFL reporter revealed that an Eagles security guard identified the man involved, and he is currently banned from future Eagles games.
But that’s not all.
The man was also connected to the New Jersey consulting firm, BCT Partners, which issued a statement late Tuesday revealing that they were the man’s employers that and he would no longer be working with the company.
“The language was vile, it was disgusting, it was unacceptable and horrific,” BCT Partners founder Randal Pinkett told NBC News about the fan, who was later identified as Ryan Caldwell, a business analyst with a specialty in information technology.
“It was diametrically opposed to the values that we espouse at BCT. We’re a company that’s founded on inclusion, on respect, on dignity, and the behavior was just in complete contrary to everything that we stand for at this organization,” Pinkett added.
Caldwell could not immediately be reached for comment.
Pinkett said they while Caldwell was let go, the company told him that they hoped he would be capable of moving on from the events of the game.
“It’s not just that we have parted ways with Mr. Caldwell, but we were very clear in our statement that we extended grace and support to him, that he could be better,” he said. “What troubles me is his behavior, but what also troubles me is the cancel culture that we live in, that doesn’t afford people grace that we don’t have the opportunity to be better people and learn from our mistakes.”
In addition to the viral moment off the field, there was also an unusual one on the field as one of the team’s wide receivers, AJ Brown, was caught reading a book on the sidelines between offensive plays.
After the game, reporters asked Brown if reading on the sidelines was a normal occurrence for him or if it was his way of showing his frustration with the way his team was performing during the game.
“I wasn’t frustrated at all,” he said, according to ESPN. “Why do you always think I be frustrated? Dang. I like to read.”
The Eagles went on to win the game with a final score of 22-10. The team now moves on to play against the Los Angeles Rams in the Divisional Round of the playoffs this coming Sunday.
