Cataldi: Eagles 'Reverted To Joe Banner-Era Of Unfriendliness'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) --- Only three NFL teams will not have either their coach or general manager address the media the NFL combine: the Saints, the Patriots, and your Philadelphia Eagles.
As you would expect, 94WIP Morning Show host Angelo Cataldi is not happy.
"The Philadelphia Eagles, who have again, reverted to the Joe Banner-era of fan unfriendliness," Cataldi said Wednesday morning.
"Do you know, of [all NFL] teams, only three will not make themselves available for questions by the media even though Philadelphia will send one of the largest contingents of media to the event itself," Cataldi continued. "The three teams---you could probably guess them. The New Orleans Saints who are immersed in a major ownership issue. Then you have the New England Patriots, that goes without saying. That's mean, evil Bill Belichick.
"Do you want to wager a guess at the third team that's spitting in the eye of the American public?" Cataldi asked.
"Is it local?" Al Morganti, 94WIP Morning Show co-host said.
"Yeah, Al, it is. The Philadelphia Eagles."
Cataldi's love for Eagles head coach Chip Kelly, who has joined Cataldi every Monday morning during his first two seasons with the Eagles, is well-documented. However, Kelly's silence has Cataldi questioning his original opinion.
"I guess your love affair with Chip is over, huh?" Bucks County Courier writer Kevin Cooney asked Cataldi upon joining the show.
Listen: Kevin Cooney on the 94WIP Morning Show:
"You know what, they care about their team 12 months of the year and they do always have questions," Cataldi said of the Eagles fan base. "So whether or not they side with the media or not, is not really the issue. The issue is the respect that a team has for its fans."
Cooney feels that Kelly is taking a page out of Bill Belichick's book, by not addressing the media unless he has to.
"The fact that you linked New England and Philadelphia there, I think is telling," Cooney said. "I really believe that Chip is just using the Belichick role of, 'I will speak on my terms, when I'm forced to.' Otherwise, it's nobody's business of what I want to do."
Cataldi also asked NY Daily News writer Manish Mehta, who proposed a 'win-win' Jets-Eagles trade for Marcus Mariota, if closing out the media would work in New York.
"They could try, it won't work," Mehta said. "I can assure you that."
Listen: Manish Mehta on the 94WIP Morning Show:
"I think there are only four coaches that aren't speaking. It's disappointing. I think you are doing your fans a disservice."
