October 17, 2017
Malcolm Jenkins may not have officially put pen to paper on a recent petition to ban an NFL official from calling Eagles games, but count him in anyway.
As the change.org petition calling on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to keep Pete Morelli and his crew away from officiating the Birds continued to gain steam Monday, Jenkins told NBC Sports Philadelphia's John Clark that he'd sign on if given the chance.
"I would definitely sign that petition if it came across my desk," he said with a laugh at his Blitz, Bow Ties and Charity's event.
Despite having just pulled out a 28-23 upset win on the road against the Carolina Panthers, a number of Eagles players expressed their displeasure over the historic disparity in penalties between the two teams last Thursday night. In case a reminder is needed here, Morelli and his crew flagged the Eagles 10 times for 126 yards, while the Panthers were whistled once for one yard.
"We felt like a lot of those were ticky-tack, or weren't good calls," Jenkins reportedly said after the game. "Adversity is nothing new for us. We just kind of strap up and hunker down."
The petition had some 66,400 signatures by Tuesday night.
It cites the fact that over the last four Eagles games called by Morelli, the Eagles were flagged 40 times for 396 yards, while their opponents were called eight times for 74 yards. The comparison began to circulate on social media Thursday night as the Eagles overcame the penalties and hung on for their fifth win in six games.
"[Morelli] has a clear and statistically obvious bias against the Philadelphia Eagles," the petition states. "Preventing Morelli from refereeing Eagles games will result in a more trustworthy and honest NFL. This will benefit the entire league and keep all claims of conspiracy to a normal level."
