A Philadelphia Eagles fan is beginning to face serious consequences for his actions after yelling at a Green Bay Packers fan in Philadelphia Stadium.
During the NFL Wild Card playoff round this past Sunday, Packers fan Alexander Basara posted a clip on X of an Eagles fan heckling his fiancée, who was decked out in Packers gear. “How does it feel to go to Philly just to try to support your team,” his post read, along with a video of the interaction.
“Unprovoked, unjustified. Packers Twitter, help me and find this guy…this is not good. I hate that my fiancée went through this just by cheering on her team. “, he added.
The video shows the man leaning down to start taunting Basara’s fiancee about something that happened on the field. He continued to insult her, repeatedly using the phrase, “She’s an ugly, stupid b***h” until Basara intervened to tell him to stop.
On Tuesday, an NFL reporter revealed that an Eagles security guard had identified the man involved and that he is currently banned from future Eagles games.
But that’s not all.
The man was also linked to New Jersey consulting firm BCT Partners, which released a statement late Tuesday revealing that they were the man’s employers and that he would no longer work with the firm.
“The language was vile, disgusting, unacceptable and horrible,” said Randal Pinkett, founder of BCT Partners. NBC News about the fan, who was later identified as Ryan Caldwell, a business analyst specializing in information technology.
“It was diametrically opposed to the values we defend at BCT. We are a company built on inclusion, respect, dignity, and the behavior was simply contrary to everything we stand for in this organization,” Pinkett added.
Caldwell could not immediately be reached for comment.
Pinkett said that while Caldwell was fired, the company told him it hoped he would be able to move on from the events of the game.
“It’s not just that we parted ways with Mr. Caldwell, but we were very clear in our statement that we gave him grace and support, that he could be better,” he said . “What bothers me is his behavior, but what also bothers me is the cancel culture we live in, which doesn’t give people the grace of not having 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: one of the team’s 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 his team’s performance during the game.
“I wasn’t frustrated at all,” he said, according to ESPN. “Why do you always think I’m frustrated?” Damn. I like to read.
The Eagles won the game with a final score of 22-10. The team will now face the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round of the playoffs next Sunday.
