I feel like I owe it to you, the reader, to get to the bottom of what really happened in the Eagles press box the other day. So what follows is, like, real actual reporting on the matter. I talked to as many people as possible to understand the situation and the environment that precipitated the Eagles ejecting the Inquirer beat writer from the press box on the last day of the season. Consider it a friendly reminder why we’re the best goddamn local sports website in existence. 

There are of course two sides to this story. Eagles VP of Communications Anne Gordon made the decision to have Jeff McLane kicked out of the press box after McLane had a contentious conversation with PR coordinator Zach Groen, who had told several other members of the media, said to include Les Bowen and Marcus Hayes, according to sources, to be quiet. McLane took exception to Groen’s demand, the two exchanged some words, and then McLane proceeded to walk up the steps and request that he and Groen take it outside, so to speak. What happened in private is unclear, likely a heated conversation, but McLane returned to his seat and about 15 minutes later was escorted out by security at the request of Gordon, supposedly for violating some sort of code of conduct which no one really knows about.

Other than a few quotes from Gordon on Philly.com claiming McLane violated “code of behavior,” which apparently came as part of a longer interview with the Inquirer’s Bob Ford, we’re probably not going to get the Eagles’ side. They’re in a lose-lose scenario here.

From my understanding of the situation, this wasn’t the first time this season, at home or on the road, that Groen has admonished members of the media for being too loud in the press box. It’s sort of a laughable charge, but there are those who feel that some Eagles reporters behave in a way that is arrogant, entitled and at times downright rude. It would be fair to say that sometimes the two sides – the media and PR staff – are at odds. It’s not so much an issue of the media being “loud,” but more an issue of general jackassery on the part of the media searching for (and sometimes incorrectly reporting) gotcha moments or complaining about this or that. The question is– where’s the line between good reporting and being a dick? We’ve obviously seen instances of Philly sports reporters being dicks. We’ve also all experienced the Eagles media in particular being ridiculous and covering the NovaCare Complex like it’s the fucking Kremlin.

A media source recounts ways Eagles reporters can often be unprofessional:


“The guys in the press box act unprofessionally at times and are spinning this against the Eagles for obvious reasons. You have one guy who curses out loud to question play calls during games. It’s embarrassing! It’s also often embarrassing as a media member to be labeled in the same group with some of these guys. They flip out if quote sheets take an extra minute or are missing a quote from whoever.”

Still, having Groen, a PR staffer with “coordinator” in his title, deliver the message to pipe down probably wasn’t the best decision and was sure to breed the sort of pushback initiated by McLane, which some feel crossed the line into belittling Groen. Certainly, many of McLane’s peers, noting the hypocrisy in telling the media to be quiet, have come to his defense and pointed out that Eagles employees on occasion openly cheer in the press box, which is a big no-no.

It also may be a matter of personality conflicts. I couldn’t find anyone who would say anything bad about Eagles Director of Public Relations Derek Boyko, who wasn’t in the press box when this happened yesterday.

Some feel Gordon has tried too hard to control the message and often takes issue with how reporters, particularly McLane, cover the team. McLane has blasted the Eagles several times this season. They note that confrontations between the media and public relation staffs are the norm and that, on the surface, what happened between McLane and Groen was no different.

But not everyone defends McLane.

Rob Maaddi of the AP, who co-hosts a show with Anthony SanFilippo on 610 AM, witnessed what happened and thought McLane was out of line:

“Zach didn’t have to admonish us because we were having normal conversation about the play and penalty. It was nothing out of the ordinary, though perhaps too loud. Still, I wasn’t offended by Zach, but other writers were. I thought Jeff was out of line to respond the way he did – and it was uncharacteristic of him. But the whole incident wasn’t a big deal and I’ve heard far worse arguments in the press box and witnessed much more egregious behavior over 17 seasons covering the Eagles and all the Philadelphia teams. I’m a firm believer in being respectful, professional and fair to everyone.”

Most of McLane’s peers, however, are coming to his defense. Several did so on Twitter yesterday, most notably Les Bowen, who once literally punched McLane. Several have in off-the-record conversations. And Zach Berman, McLane’s colleague at the Inquirer, was more than happy to defend his colleague:

“I’ve sat next to Jeff for just about every game for five seasons, and there’s never been a situation like Sunday or even the threat of what happened on Sunday. I was stunned. There have been times when reporters make comments during the game, and someone tells them to keep it down or that they’re working. It usually stops there, and we can all move on. On Sunday, there was no opportunity to pacify the situation. Security came, and that was it. So from where I stand, I don’t know why it had to reach that point. We’re around the team six days a week during the season, so they know us fairly well. I would think there could have been a solution better for both parties than what happened Sunday.”

Both McLane and Gordon politely declined to comment.

Though McLane’s negative articles about the Eagles may have provided the kindling to get this fire started or keep it going, most feel that the decision to kick him out was not directly related to his writing. No one thinks that it came directly from Jeffrey Lurie, Don Smolenski or Howie Roseman, who were likely more interested in watching the game than settling a score with a troublesome beat writer. Gordon, it seems, made a decision to defend her employee, but at the same time kicked off a negative backlash that she is employed to prevent.

As an outside arbiter here, I have two thoughts. The local media can often act like pricks, a charge I think many in the media would agree with. I also think the Eagles can come across as overly sensitive and out of touch. There’s enough fault to go around for both sides here. I can 100% believe that the collective group of Eagles media members can be awful, like kids hopped up on sugar in a pricey restaurant. Individually they may be fine, but put them together and they’ll be a walking advertisement for Chinese birthing laws. On the other hand, the season was almost over and Eagles PR was an hour away from not having to deal with them on a regular basis for months. If the punishment didn’t fit the crime, the outcome certainly didn’t. Certainly it wasn’t worth the headache. Any reasonable communications staffer should’ve been able to tell that this wouldn’t play well. There’s something to be said for defending an employee, but there was also probably another way to do it.

This is a big deal because it makes the Eagles look small and petty, a perception they have been fighting to change. In fact, they’ve done a much better job over the last four years or so of not coming across that way. Their marketing, social media and PR efforts, for the must part, have been top-notch. They’ve stumbled, most notably with the coaching, GM, player personnel, emotion intelligence search last year, but they’re no longer the vindictive group they were under Banner. Kicking a reporter out of the press box, for vague if not trivial reasons, doesn’t help show it.

Anyway, it seems this was simply a matter of the Eagles making a decision to remove a member of the media for what they thought was some sort of misconduct. How much of that had to do with McLane’s relationship with the team and Gordon is unclear, but the fact that this happened to their most vocal media critic certainly raises some eyebrows.