To be honest, I’m surprised it’s taken this long.
PFT’s Mike Florio and ESPN’s Dan Le Batard have a history of needling each other and pretty much everyone else in sports on a regular basis. Today that came to a boil when the two engaged in a mini-Twitter War over what’s happening in Philadelphia with Chip Kelly and the Eagles.
It started with Florio questioning Kelly and whether or not all the recent criticism of… well, whatever he’s doing in Philadelphia… had any impact on him suddenly chasing DeMarco Murray.
Chip Kelly's pursuit of DeMarco Murray is either a ruse or a sign that the local and national criticism has stung him http://t.co/kbtUuIHi1S
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 12, 2015
That’s when Le Batard stepped in, and the rest as they say is Twitter Wars history. In one corner we have NBC’s resident mascot-smack-talking NFL insider. In the other we have the billboard buying firebrand of ESPN. Two can enter. Only one can survive. And who knows, the winner might end up being signed by Kelly themselves before this is all said and done. It’s been far too long before we fired up the popcorn maker, let’s do this…
@ProFootballTalk actually thinks we matter and that Chip Kelly gives one solitary crap what we think
— Dan Le Batard Show (@LeBatardShow) March 12, 2015
@LeBatardShow . . . Not quite what I said. But feel free to twist my words. Not the first time you've done it.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 12, 2015
@ProFootballTalk what I twist? choices were ruse or Chip runs from noise. So we get to be either right or powerful but not, you know, wrong
— Dan Le Batard Show (@LeBatardShow) March 12, 2015
@LeBatardShow . . . What caused him to blurt out that he was offered a 1st-rounder for Bradford? Either the noise or, you know, Tourette's.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 12, 2015
@ProFootballTalk hell if I know. But it is funny that you think you know.
— Dan Le Batard Show (@LeBatardShow) March 12, 2015
@ProFootballTalk still don't see how I've twisted words. Neither of your choices allows us to be wrong for blasting Chip before he was done
— Dan Le Batard Show (@LeBatardShow) March 12, 2015
@LeBatardShow . . . Maybe he's feeling a little sensitive because one of your colleagues called him a racist without calling him a racist.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 12, 2015
@ProFootballTalk you give us too much power. Real leaders don't care about noise and popularity. This isn't high school.
— Dan Le Batard Show (@LeBatardShow) March 12, 2015
@LeBatardShow . . . "Real leaders" get fired before they get a chance to lead if they're out of touch with those who influence their bosses.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) March 12, 2015
@ProFootballTalk the race card! And still no answer for how I twisted words
— Dan Le Batard Show (@LeBatardShow) March 12, 2015
That seems like a pretty big argument to have over one article concerning the impact of the media on Chip Kelly. (Of course, it’ll never beat Deitsch and Rovell’s epic Twitter War over a USB charger.)
In a sense, you can see where both are coming from, and perhaps both have some interesting points to make, but in the frenzy that has been the first couple days of free agency (especially in Philadelphia) you can’t blame people for being a little on edge.
There were a couple of decent jabs landed throughout, but no real haymakers unless you want to count Florio’s subtweet of Stephen A. Smith and his inferring Chip Kelly might secretly be racially motivated in his personnel moves. Naturally, Murray’s signing makes that a little more difficult to stomach.
The winner of this Twitter War gets decided by our readers. Vote in the poll below:
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