Nick Sirianni had the best support in Philadelphia since Lane Johnson, Jason Kelce, and Jason Peters helped the Eagles’ offensive line during the 2017 Super Bowl season. His kids.
Trying to shift the focus away from his attention-grabbing taunting of Eagles fans at the end of Sunday’s close win over Cleveland, Sirianni’s three young children joined him at the postgame news conference.
They giggled and fidgeted when Sirianni used some mild profanity and mostly served as a reason for him to talk about family instead of football.
What about the trash talk? The boos the Eagles heard going into halftime? The “Fire Nick!” chants that could be heard in parts of Lincoln Financial Field?
Sirianni made it clear that he can express his frustration, but he thinks Eagles fans should calm down when they are upset.
“We thrive off the crowd when they cheer for us. That’s all I’ll say,” Sirianni said. “When our crowd cheers for us, we thrive off of them. We hear them when they boo.
We don’t necessarily like it. I don’t think that’s productive for anybody. When they cheer for us and we’ve got them rolling, we love it.” After reflecting on his actions and taking in public criticism, Sirianni apologized on Monday for his behavior.
“I’m sorry and disappointed at how my energy was directed at the end of the game,” he said. “My energy should be all in on coaching, motivating, and celebrating with our guys. I have to have better wisdom and discernment of when to use that energy, and that wasn’t the time.”
Sirianni, known for his trash-talking, had pointed at fans in the front rows during the game. Instead of shining a light on his team, he gave more material for social media and tabloids, especially since his job security is often questioned and he won’t win any popularity contests in Philadelphia, even after a win.
On Monday, Sirianni faced backlash for interacting with the fans and sparked a debate about when it’s appropriate for coaches and athletes to involve their kids in professional settings.
Retired NFL player and ESPN analyst Damien Woody called Sirianni’s behavior “clown behavior. This dude is a clown.” Talk show host Joe Giglio said on WIP radio that team owner Jeffrey Lurie should tell Sirianni, “you apologize to the fan base or you pack your office up and leave.”
Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Mike Sielski noted that every outburst like Sunday’s harms the image he is supposed to represent and the respect he should inspire.
This was all happening after an Eagles victory. Jalen Hurts was fine, the defense performed better, and the receivers were healthy.
