Charles Barkley spoke about what it is like to be a pro athlete in Philadelphia with currently Eagles All-Pro center Jason Kelce and his brother, Chiefs All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce, on the latest episode of the New Heights podcast.
"I've been in Philadelphia since 1985," Barkley said around the 1:05 mark. "No matter how much success...the Flyers, the Sixers have, the Phillies—it's an Eagles town man. When I got there [in '85], I am hanging out with Jerome Brown, Seth Joyner—who is still a great friend to me today—Reggie White, Randall Cunningham and these guys. I'm like, wow. So I became an Eagles fan. My favorite coach of all-time in football was Buddy Ryan. I loved him because the players loved him...I never met a player that didn't love Buddy Ryan.
"Philadelphia is a great, great city, I loved playing there, but it's not for everybody. Everybody can't play in Philly. We had this guy who would get two quick fouls to start the game every game. I'm like, 'Yo man, what is your damn problem? Why do you get two fouls every game?' He says, 'Man I can't take the crowd screaming at me...They leave me alone when I go to the beach.' I was mad and I felt bad, because I understood."
Barkley, now 60, of course played for the Sixers from 1984-1992, the first half of his Hall Of Fame NBA career.
"And the one thing I will say, as long as you play hard, they're cool," Barkley said. "I never had an issue in Philadelphia because they know I am going to give you everything I had every single night."
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