Eagles slot receiver Jason Avant made it clear today at his locker in the Nova Care Complex, he’s not apologizing for what he said, but he did stress that he wasn’t trying to criticize Eagles fans as much as he was trying to motivate his teammates. and everybody has a right to free speech.
“Let’s get this clear; I will not apologize for what I said, it’s not an apology or anything like that,” Avant said. “What I’m saying is, is that there are faithful fans, faithful Eagles fans, we love those fans and the one thing I won’t do is apologize. I’m trying to motivate my teammates to keep focused, we’ve got the underdog mentality and that’s my opinion”.
His next move was to stress freedom of speech.
“The fans, I guess they called in stations or whatever and they gave their opinion, right? I’m a person and this is America right? I can have an opinion right? That’s my opinion.”
Avant says he loves the Eagles fans but he believes in supporting his teammates and his coaches every chance he gets.
“It’s one of those things, I take offense when we’ve got signs outside talking about firing Coach,” said Avant. “I take offense to it so, definitely I’m not apologizing for that, but what i am saying is it was to motivate my teammates.”
He next move was to pivot and start talking about the things he loves about Philadelphia sports fans.
“This is what I do respect about Philadelphia fans,” the wide out said. ” They’re very, very knowledgeable and I love playing before our fans. I want to win a championship for this city so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so bad. So I respect them and I love them as fans.”
In conclusion, Avant stressed that he’s not in any position to be deciding who can and who can’t root for the football team.
“All are welcome to root for the Eagles, it’s not a thing of being mad, it’s just something that I wanted to let our guys know that we have to play through any adversity,” Avant said. “It’s not a shot at the fans, like it was taken, more so it’s about motivating my team to say we have to be able to go out under any circumstances and play hard like we did last week.”
Finally in conclusion, he blamed much of this on the media.
“Who am I to allow anybody back?” Avant asked with a smile. “I don’t have any type of authority, anybody is welcome back. See that’s the thing, how you going to take something out – I don’t have the authority to allow somebody to root for the Eagles and you guys take it seriously. Half of the stuff is you guys fault, I’m going to blame it on the media, half of it is you guys fault for blowing it out of proportion.”
Some comments should be made in the locker room and other comments are for public conversation.
More wasted energy, C’mon, let’s move on and concentrate on the biggest game of teh Season, A loss here Monday night makes the wins the last 2 weeks basically meaningless..
Again, I’m with Avant all the way. This IS the media’s fault. Paulman “More wasted energy” – but nothing was wasted according to the ones who are behind this – the media. For Garry (in this circumstance), he got over 150 posts on the other article, plus this now… all out of that ‘energy’ (how much energy does it take to walk into a locker room and talk to a guy for a few minutes, then type up what he said?) The media benefits from stuff like this and you’re right – for the fans and the players, it’s a waste of time and energy. But not for the medai – not at all. And Avant illustrated a great point – if it were his (or any other player’s most likely), choice, the media wouldn’t be asking them questions all the time. So for those who said to Avant “keep your mouth shut” – he would prefer to, its the media that starts all this BULL.
I have a lot of respect for the way Avant handled this and stuck to his guns. I personally don’t vibe with the whole religious thing, but this made me gain even more respect for one of my favorite Eagles players.
Lets get back to football. When this team plays bad all fans have every right to come down on them. I want Avant to concentrate on the Bears and stop getting caught up in who is rooting for the Birds. He’s one of my favorite players but its time to let your actions on the field do your talking. Since we still have a losing record I think all the players need to SHUT UP and start playing their best FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!
Avant is a third string wide out with no clue about philadelphia, the.fans, another miscreant who apparently takes his lead from andy reid and the.front office on how to disrespect the fans, you would never hear dawk talk like that, this guy is a clown on the first order
” I want to win a championship for this city so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so bad”
Well since he put it that way.. I guess we are on the same page..lol..:oP
Jake, I think Dawk did make a comment once or twice about us Fans when some were stating that his time was up, that he lost a step, that he was a weak link in coverage blah, blah, blah, and so on. I don’t have a feeling about what Avant said either way I still love the guy and he is more than some third strike WR, he has been clutch for us many times and saved the teams butt on many occasions.
The verdict is true on some of us fans though: Eagle fans are smart, knowledgeable, passionate, but also overreactive, onesidedly unfair, revisionist historians. With that I say I love the heck out of you EAGLE FANS!
Now get over yourselves, and don’t let GCobb stir our peaceful hornets nest, we have don’t some good things the last two weeks and until we do some bad i don’t care! I love that Navy sank that old rusty ship of a myth about Rhodes getting credit for Andy’s success or the Defense.
As always “LONG LIVE THE EAGLES”
I have NO respect for the way Avant handled this and stuck to his “guns”. He didn’t know how to get out of the dumb thing he said, or was afraid of being less than macho and apologizing. This whole way of motivating is trite and ridiculous. But I never ever believed in “biting the hand that feeds you!” He should pray on this, and realize dissing the fans is disrespectful, crude, and a losing battle.
And yes, Kelce and Mathis were equally ignorant.
Mono – appreciate the note – always here to help – like your post, but I think lil jakey was about 4 when dawk played here – if he behaves mommy lets him skip his nappy time to watch the game – not sure how he is going to handle Monday night – gonna be very cranky in school on Tuesday I guess.
Go Avant – 6/7 catches for 75 yards – you can hate on me as much as you want! Best slot rcvr in the NFL (Pman – who is better in the slot?)
Schill, with all due respect, if he didn’t open up his mouth, & shove his own shlong in it, we wouldn’t even have an issue. Like I said before, when he doesn’t fumble twice to cost us a game, then he can come out & puff his chest & criticize the fans. Until then SHUT THE F^#@ UP, DIVA! What a half @$$ED retraction, too. Then he blames it on the media. A convenient cop out. Be a man, pussbag! You said it, man up. The media didn’t force you to play like $#!t, & then slap that hands that feed you, with their blood sweat tears & hard worked $$$, that they spend on your overpaid @$$es. I agree, everyone has a right to an opinion, but get your priorities & brain straight.
Navy, Welker, & Steve Smith, before he came here! Although Welker does it all.
You can even put Hines Ward in there when healthy.
Avant I take offense to you supposed to be so sure handed and dropping passes.
I take offense to you losing to decent teams and only being able to be scrub teams.
I take offense to the high prices for tickets, parking and food for a pro football game.
Playing and coaching a childs game and getting paid millions is a privilage not a right.
While you would be correct to call Jeffie Lurie you boss, Jeffrie gets his money from the fan who paid $65.00 – $1,000 to sit in those stands.
If a fan wants to paint himself green or sit in the middle of winter with no shirt on, or come in with a sign that says FIRE THE FAT COACH, then that paying fan has a right to.
Or let’s see how much fun it would be to play in a empty statium.
“Jason Avant was held to just one reception for four yards in Week 13.
For the second time in three weeks, Avant dropped a touchdown pass, this one the first of back-to-back Eagles’ drops in the end zone. Avant’s role is too inconsistent for fantasy viability.” nbcsports.msnbc.com
bsm – i hear you and understand your point. But Avant never said anything about fans not having rights. In fact he underscored that the fans and HIM can say anything they or he wants. He just expressed his opinion about it. If I say I hate something someone did, that’s different than saying they had no right to do it.
Gosh, you’re so soft and sensitive.
Gotta go with Avant on this one. I know we are a fan base which has been through a lot of pain, but am I the only one noticing the terrible atmospheric shift going on at the Link? We typically get tickets through my ladies work and make it out to a game or two a year. We sit in the lower levels with all of the miserable, “doomsday” type fans who can never be pleased (at any given time, in any section, you always have at least 6 of them within arms reach). I often find myself looking up to the nosebleeds on the southern sideline and wish I was way up there, freezing my tail off, with the 150, maybe 200 fans who are there for the right reasons. Those guys get nuts, they make the most of their experience and even when something petty like a non-pivotal 11 yard completion by the opposing offense takes the ENTIRE crowd out of the game, they stay in it. My hat goes off to them, the only noticeably large section in that stadium which bleeds green regardless of what the “weather” is like. It’s getting worse and our house becomes less hostile territory with each passing year. If you do not agree please refer to the call Peyton placed to his brother before coming into town. Living proof spoken straight from the guys whose play calling is blown up by crowd noise when they play in front of GOOD fans. The Vet was hostile, loud and the fans were grimy. The link is soft, too quiet, and the fans are whinier with each passing year. Why spend all that money and buy up tickets just to sit around with a frown on your face and bark your displeasure at Andy Reid?, HE CAN’T HEAR YOU!
Im sure Ive said this before… Disrespecting the fanbase is a no – no… Its a lose-lose proposition for a player..
Its like telling your family to get the hell outta your life…. its self destructive..
I understand where he is coming from and I think players need to stop lying about how they dont pay attention to the media and the fans during the week… because Avant is obviously holding on to some slights he took from the fanbase or the media and using it as motivation for the team…
he says he wants people to keep ‘talking bad’ about the team…
Earth to Avant: the team stunk and you thoroughly earned the ‘bad talking’ the went on… Go ahead and play the ‘us against the world’ game if you think it will help you win and bond as a team….
but snappin at the fans? not smart… you should keep that in the locker room
the fans didnt lose 4 straight…
the fans showed up and did their part… you didnt
bottomline is simple… if the Eagles win and play well, the fans cheer…
if they stink it up and go on multiple game losing streaks, losing big leads in the 2nd half with schemes that even the fans know wont work? the fans will be booing..
he might as well get used to that fact
Philly, it’s team’s,players and fans have become “Soft” like their Pretzels..
Gov Rendell was right…
How dare you blame this on G? This is not about G this is about Avant
Leave G out of this!
Geez, you know this hearing from players stuff is getting stale..I get that he wants to win so now, he needs to quit whining and play already! When this team is 11 and 4 then he can start barking again! lol
chev – you really think Avant was like – where’s a reporter, I got something to say to the fans? NO The reporters barge into their locker room and into their faces like it’s their job. Because it is! But the reporters dig for quotes like that. they try to put players into situations where they’ll say stuff like that. Garry’s no better or wores, no more inocent or mor guilty. The media’s just is to stir up controversy, get players to say something that’s newsworth. and first and foremost, the media’s job is to work as hard as possible to NOT have players ‘quit whining and play already’! You want to ‘leave the media out of this’? THE MEDIA CREATES THIS. Did Avant speak directly to us fans, not through the media? HELL NO. He was provoked by the media as he and all the players always are.
EVERY single time i see Jason Avant on the field come Monday night… I will go apesh*t, chant, and have the time of my life. because we ONLY GET 16 games a year, and aside from 1 off/fumbly-day… That man has put his heart and 150% of himself on the field as long as we’ve known him, stop feeding into media garbage and just WATCH EAGLES GAMES….. At least someone is finally igniting a spark in us fans, get into it, stop trying to be “realists” and “know-it-alls”, NOBODY IS IMPRESSED!. Are you an Eagles fan because you want sympathy? or attention??? NO. You are an Eagles fan because you want to win, and you bleed green. If you feel otherwise and “self-hate” yourself……… Go buy a &^%%&^^ Tony Romo Jersey. This site needs to get back to that attitude, love what you’ve done G, its just getting far too depressing for me.
I do not, and will never Self-Hate my fan-hood like FAR too many people do……….. I’m an Eagle, born and raised, regardless of what I “know”, or what I try to “Fortune-tell” on message boards.
Let’s get back on real-track people, CRUCIAL game Monday Night……………………………………………. E…