Eagles Completely Confused by But Nonetheless Dismissive of Philadelphia Weekly Story
Last week’s Philadelphia Weekly featured a highly amusing first-person essay from writer G.W. Miller detailing his dislike of the Philadelphia Eagles. The piece, “Team Dispirit,” recounted a completely ridiculous verbal spat Miller had with former Eagles running back Duce Staley in 2000. Miller claims that, while was working as a photojournalist for the Daily News, he snapped a few photos of Staley in the locker room. This angered Staley, prompting him to shout at Miller, “What the fuck you doing, Bruce Lee, taking my picture?”
Miller, who’s half-Asian, became infuriated. He shouted at Staley, Staley “lurched” toward him, and then things got really bizarre:
As I stepped forward, Harold Carmichael — who’s 6 feet 8 inches tall — cut me off, grabbed me by the front of my shirt, whisked me aside and held me off the floor with my back against a locker wall. Carmichael told Staley to keep moving, which he did after a few more barbs. Then Carmichael, who was part of the club’s administrative staff, lectured me.
“You’re in our house,” he said sharply as my feet dangled in the air. “You can’t do that stuff in our house.”
I had no response as I shook my body frantically, trying to force him to release me.
To make matters worse, Miller claims that after things calmed down a bit, Carmichael, in a moment of Michael Scott-like brilliance, tried to convince him that he really did look like Bruce Lee and that it was a “compliment.” Immediately after the incident, Miller says, he relayed this story to Marcus Hayes, Phillies beater for the DN, who was super-pissed and going to demand an apology from the team — but the apology never happened.
Hayes did not return a Daliy Examiner e-mail seeking to verify the story. Staley is long gone from the Eagles — he now works as a sideline reporter at University of South Carolina football games — but calls to his cellphone were not answered and his mailbox was full. And Carmichael? Well, you have to go through Eagles PR muscle Derek Boyko for that. Boyko also insisted that he’d never heard of the story. He did say he wasn’t discrediting Miller’s piece, but suggested that something of that nature probably would’ve been big news (in 2000) if it actually happened.
Miller, for his part, stands by his story. In an e-mail to the Examiner, he says he told plenty of other DN people about the incident, and reiterates that “yes, Carmichael lifted me off the ground. He literally swept me off my feet. I landed quickly, and then he held me back for a while.”
Carmichael still holds the title of “Director of Player Programs” with the Birds, a job that entails educating “rookies of their off-field responsibilities during their NFL career and beyond.” We hope he’s also in charge of “Diversity Day.”
Team Dispirit [Philadelphia Weekly]
October 9th, 2007 at 8:32 pm
Good for Duce and Harold….
October 10th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
I am completely dismissive of any story in the Philadelphia Weakly. Did poor ol’ snookums photojournalist get his feathers ruffled when he invaded the Eagles’ nest and laid some eggs of his own?
My. My. What has the paparazzi sunk to?