If you cast your minds back to the NFL combine and the weeks that followed, the city of Philadelphia was besotted with the idea of drafting a wide receiver in the first round of the upcoming draft. With so many names to pick from, it was a never-ending carousel of talent who looked to be the perfect pick at 21. One of those names was Denzel Mims…at least…it was.
After taking an informal meeting with the Eagles, the Baylor wideout was reportedly ‘scared’. At least, that’s what he told the hosts of the ‘Inside The Birds’ podcast:
“I’ve been to Philadelphia one time, and it was last summer, before the season. I went with a couple of teammates, and my head coach. We went up there and spent a lot of time together.
The experience I had, I was very scared. I wasn’t familiar with the whole city, and it was a lot going on. You see a lot of people that look scary. I’m not a part of that, I don’t like that. So I mean, I had a bad experience, you could say, going up there for the first time. But I feel like if I just go there more, and I just get familiar with it, I could have a great time.”
For those high on Mims, this was a damning blow. For those not so high, it ruined any chance of a change of heart. The comments felt innocent enough considering that he’s from a tiny, diversity-lacking area in the middle of nowhere (2,000 population) and was probably caught off guard by such a drastic change.
However, we can wipe that positive intent away. Mims was streaming Warzone this past weekend and had some choice words about the City of Brotherly Love.
‘A dirty ass, trash ass city’. Yikes.
The good news for Mims is that he won’t have to face the Eagles in preseason this year, as the team’s encounter with the Jets has been cancelled due to the pandemic.
The bad news is, whenever he does face the Eagles, I highly doubt that that the Birds’ defensive backs let that kind of talk escape without a hit or two.
On the plus side, it looks like Howie dodged a major bullet here in drafting TCU’s Jalen Reagor, who has been very complimentary of the city and its culture. Having a father in Monty who used to play for the Birds surely helped, but Reagor looks ready and raring to hit the ground running as a rookie.
Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
