Philadelphia Eagles: Only Philly fans get to hate on Carson Wentz

External hate on the Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback needs to stop ASAP.

Carson Wentz is not a perfect quarterback.

He’s a tad inconsistent, an only above-average athlete, and will seemingly never shake that pesky ‘injury-prone’ label for as long as he lives, but for the love of the football gods, all of this external slander of the Philadelphia Eagles‘ franchise quarterback needs to stop now.

It all started – at least this time around – with the NFL’s top-100 list, a list “voted on by players” if you believe that. This year’s list was filled with great NFL players, including members of the Eagles, but where they landed versus their competition is rather… peculiar (more on that here). Now I’m willing to argue with anyone that Brandon Brooks and Jason Kelce, arguably the best center-right guard tandem in the NFL, are top 50 players regardless of position value, but do you know who wasn’t on this year’s list? I’ll give you a hint; it wasn’t Dak Prescott.

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That’s right, after making the cut in every year since his near-MVP campaign in 2017, Carson’s name was noticeably absent from a list that featured such NFL stalwarts as Kirk Cousins, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Kyler flippin’ Murry, a rookie quarterback who lead the 16th ranked offense in the NFL to a 5-10-1 record.

Alright, fine. What do NFL players know about playing in the NFL anyway? They aren’t stat nerds who comb through the numbers looking for underappreciated gems. People lie but numbers don’t, right? I wonder what Pro Football Focus had to say about Wentz.

… you have got to be kidding me.

In the opinion of PFF’s Senior Analyst Steve Palazzolo, Wentz is a third-tier quarterback in the same general ballpark as Cam Newton, Joe Burrow, Ryan Tannahill, and Derek Carr and worse than Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Matt Ryan. Well hey, at least he’s considered better than Kyler Murry – at least Philly fans have that to hang their hats on.

Turn on FS1 or ESPN and you will routinely see an overly zealous pundit complain about Wentz being overrated, comparing him to Prescott, or worst of all, bringing up Super Bowl LII MVP Nick Foles, and frankly, I’m sick of it.

I’ve said it before but it bears repeating: The only people who get to hate on Carson Wentz are fans of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Now, as anyone who has called our fair City of Brotherly Love home will gleefully attest, it’s not a place for the faint of heart professional athlete. Fans will boo you if you play bad, remember a bad outing for the rest of their lives, and call into the Mike Missanelli Show demanding the team ship you out of town for a perceived lack of effort. For some, like new Sixers power forward Ben Simmons, this energy is infectious, while others, like Eli Manning, hate playing in South Philly due to the sheer volume of nine-year-olds willing to give him the finger.

Heck, some Philly fans will forever hate you just because you aren’t Ricky Williams.

But through better or worse, Wentz has handled being a Philly professional athlete, let alone the face of the city’s most popular franchise, with passion, poise, and grace, all the while being hit with fans questioning his ceiling, his pedigree, and commitment to the game. Wentz has had to weather injuries, his team winning the Super Bowl while sidelined with a bum ACL, and that now-infamous locker room leaker who definitely wasn’t Alshon Jeffery and has somehow come out an even better leader with a newfound passion for social justice.

I mean the Eagles literally drafted a Heisman Trophy finalist in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft in Jalen Hurts and no one heard a whisper of frustration from Wentz or his camp; this guy just wants to play football for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Next. Greg Ward’s importance just skyrocketed. dark

Will he continue to get boos after one too many three and outs? For sure. Will fans chant ‘we want Hurts’ if the Eagles go 1-3 in September? Oh, you’d better believe it. But honestly, that comes from a place of love. Philadelphia Eagles fans can rib on one of their own with immunity because it comes from a place of deep-seated love based solely on the color of one’s jersey. Sure, we may hate Carson Wentz at times for seemingly no reason but only because we love him so very much and want nothing more than for him to bring his own Lombardi Trophy down Broad Street. Philadelphia is called the ‘City of Brotherly Love’ for a reason, and you’d best believe we don’t take too kindly to outsiders attacking one of our own; it’s the fanbase’s job to hold him accountable.

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