Last Sunday, a male Philadelphia Eagles fan made headlines when he heckled a female Green Bay Packers counterpart during his team's eventual 22-10 victory in the Wild Card Round. He has since received condemnation from almost everyone in the NFL community, including one of its most active women on social media.
Rachel Bush, wife of Miami Dolphins safety Jordan Poyer, posted this on her X account:
"Listen I love football. But it is a ball. It is a game, some of y’all are not well. No other way to put it."
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The video of the incident can be seen below:
The woman was later identified as Ally Keller, the fiancee of Alexander Basara, a content creator for the Packers. He recalled that their interaction was not initially hostile, but eventually escalated:
“He started out with playful jabs at first or kind of just saying things to us right when we sat down. I chatted with him for a bit. But then he just kept saying some of the same things.”
The Eagles are planning to give Keller memorabilia of her team as an apology gift.
Eagles fan who heckled female Packers counterpart fired from company
That heckler was identified as Ryan Caldwell, a business analyst at BCT Partners, a New Jersey-based managament consulting firm. The company subsequently announced that it has parted ways with him via this statement:
Founder Randal Pickett also condemned the "vile" and "disgusting" language when speaking to NBC News:
"It was diametrically opposed to the values that we espouse at BCT. We're a company that's founded on inclusion, on respect, on dignity and the behavior was just in complete contrary to everything that we stand for at this organization."
However, he still wished his now-former employee well:
"...We were very clear in our statement that we extended grace and support to him, that he could be better. What troubles me is his behavior, but what also troubles me is the cancel culture that we live in."
Caldwell, meanwhile, issued an apology:
“While attending an NFL game last Sunday to support my beloved Philadelphia Eagles, an incident occurred that I deeply regret. What began as banter with two Packers fans sitting near me escalated to something more serious, and I said things that were unacceptable.
"In the heat of the moment, I chose unforgiving words to address one of the fans, Ms. Ally Keller. I want to sincerely apologize to Ms. Keller, to my wife, family, and friends, my former employer and colleagues, Packers fans, Eagles fans, the Philadelphia Eagles, the City of Philadelphia, and all who were offended."
He has also been permanently banned from attending Eagles home games, said a source.