PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The foul-mouthed Eagles fan who berated a couple of Packers fans at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday has been fired from his job since a video of the incident went viral.
"I was, I guess, trying to stay calm — but I was pretty fuming at that point,” Ally Keller, of Chester County, told NBC10.
Keller and her fiancé, Alexander Basara, were wearing Packers colors at Sunday’s wild card playoff game. Basara is a Packers fan content producer on YouTube.
They said an Eagles fan, who has since been identified as Ryan Caldwell, was in a seat behind them, making constant jabs at the pair throughout the game. Before long, things got out of hand.
“I didn’t want to turn around and yell at that guy and have my fiancé jumped in the crowd,” Keller said.
But the situation worsened. Toward the end of the game, they said, Caldwell got profane.
“He was talking about my looks the whole time,” Keller said. “So it got personal.”
So, Basara pulled out his phone and recorded a video.
“It’s a dangerous situation,” said Basara. “I’ve seen videos — of other stadiums — of that same situation occurring, where it’s a couple, and the husband jumps in and the wife is in the middle of the crossfire. It’s a very dangerous situation and it’s infuriating. And that’s why we went that route. And he actually stopped after he did that. He actually stopped when he realized he was caught on tape.”
He posted the video on social media.
“Hopefully this will make people understand that’s not OK to do,” he said.
Caldwell’s behavior eventually cost him his job. He was a diversity, equity and inclusion manager for BCT Partners, a management consulting firm in North Jersey. The firm issued a statement saying Caldwell’s conduct and language were vile, disgusting, unacceptable and horrific and have no place in the workplace or society.
The Eagles banned Caldwell from the Linc for life.
Caldwell responded in a statement to The New York Post, saying, “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 for those words, and to my wife, family, and friends, my former employer and colleagues, Packer fans, Eagle fans, the Philadelphia Eagles, the City of Philadelphia, and all who were offended. That said, there are two sides to every story. The video clip circulating online does not reflect the full context of what transpired, and my actions were not without provocation. I will live with this experience, and I am certainly paying a personal price. For those who don’t know me, this incident does not reflect my values or the respect I have for others and is not indicative of the person I am.”