September 25, 2022
LANDOVER, MD. — There is always a big contingent of Eagles fans who make the trip down I-95 to see the Eagles take on Washington, but there's extra juice this season. As everyone in the Delaware Valley knows, former franchise quarterback, and current Commanders QB, Carson Wentz is facing his old squad in Week 3. If early Sunday morning is any indication, there will be a sea of green in the crowd at FedEx Field. As much as those fans will be amped about an exciting 2-0 Eagles squad, Wentz still remains a huge talking point.
In speaking with some Birds fans before the game, there were mixed feelings on Wentz. For the most part, the fans took an "it is what it is" approach, appreciating his importance to the 2017 Super Bowl team, but also happy that both sides have parted ways.
"Listen, I wish him the best," fan Todd Warner said. "I'm glad he's gone, but I wish him the best and we're going to get after him today. I think this is his last chance. I think because of that, that it's his last chance, that he'll do well. He knows this is his last stop. He's got to perform."
"Carson definitely had his downfall in Philly and I think that's why the fans turned on him," fan Payton Warner said. "Me, personally, I appreciate Carson's time and what he did in Philly when he was there. Obviously, his last season there was the start of the downfall of his career and it was kind of best for both parties to split."
Speaking to a group of fans in the parking lot in throwback Kelly green jerseys who preferred to remain nameless, that ambivalence continued.
"I hope he does well," one said, "Not against us obviously, but I hope he has a decent career. It was kind of s***** at the end. He could've went about it differently. He admitted that... but it is what it is. He was so good for two years. I think his confidence really went out the door a little."
"I like what he did," a fan in the same mini tailgate group added on. "We don't win the Super Bowl without him, but it was time to move on."
There are certainly extremes. Some fans dropped expletives. One called him a "team cancer" in the 2020 season and compared him to a male body part, to put it mildly, though that fan threw up a qualifier and said, "I think he's a good man at heart."
Another hopes he gets put on his rear end "at least" four times in the Eagles-Commanders matchup.
Eagles fan Lance Ackerman had the simplest answer of them all: "There isn't a player in the league I couldn't care less about than Carson Wentz."
There's a mix of love and hate in the air at FedEx Field with the thousands of Eagles fans filling the stands. That divisiveness is seemingly at the heart of every QB's journey in Philadelphia. Let's see if the fans down here stick to their pregame takes about ol' No. 11 once the final whistle in the fourth quarter blows.
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