Eagles Employee Says He Was Unfairly Depicted In Cover Photo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- The initial reaction for any Eagles fan, when Victor Cruz failed to catch a third-quarter touchdown pass on 4th and 2 in Sunday night's game at the Linc, is to cheer. However, upon realizing Cruz was seriously injured (torn patellar tendon) on the play, the cheers mellowed and concern grew.
The New York Daily News used a photo of an Eagles employee, Charlie—who preferred to keep his last name and position private—told CBS Philly.com and 94WIP he says he was wrongfully portrayed in the cover photo which shows him cheering while Cruz lays injured with the headline, "PHILTHY."
A Giant loss in Philly: http://t.co/olMDjpnFmD pic.twitter.com/WgcZMEKWEN
— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) October 13, 2014
"Angelo, I never call the radio," Charlie told Angelo Cataldi and the 94WIP Morning Show on Monday morning. "I just want to be clear. I don't want to make it look bad for Philadelphia, especially me. I got to live with myself. It was fourth and two, which is an exciting play, the ball was overthrown and I just reacted like we just stopped them, so I was just cheering. As soon as I saw him [Cruz] hurt, we---everyone stopped cheering. I didn't cheer for that. And honestly, if anyone in the Philadelphia media followed it, they'll see me go down to my knee---not with the players, but I'm actually, I said a prayer for him as well. It was terrible. I would never do that."
"I just wasn't portrayed right," Charlie confirmed to CBSPhilly.com. "I'm upset. It just stinks. My email, my texts. I have friends in New York. I have nothing against New York."
In reality, as soon as Cruz was down the stadium went silent and respect was shown for the star Giants wideout. Some Eagles fans even chanted Cruz's name as he was carted off a midst a respectful applause.
"I don't know, again," Charlie said of the NY Daily News' depiction of the photo and article. "It's just upsetting to me. That wasn't me. I'm not cheering that he got hurt."
Cataldi was outraged, as you would expect.
"This is bad!" Cataldi yelled of the photo. "This is garbage! This is pathetic."
You can listen to Charlie's interview on the 94WIP Morning Show below:
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