McNabb Fan Asked to Take Off Skins Jersey at Lehigh

The action on the field took a back seat to something that happened off the field Wednesday at training camp.

A man wearing the No. 5 jersey of QB Donovan McNabb was asked by Eagles security to remove his shirt, Philadelphia Sports Daily’s Tim McManus tweeted.

Why would the Birds give a hoot about a guy wearing the number of one of the franchise’s all-time greats?

It was because it wasn’t an old Eagles D-Mac jersey but rather a current Redskins jersey. The fan, who told NBC Philadelphia that he is an Eagles fan, removed his jersey (McManus snapped a TweetPhoto of the removal) and was not removed from camp. But he left the media abuzz over his fashion statement in the VIP section of fans.

Here is how McManus (who also reports on training camp for 97.5 The Fanatic) described what happened on PSD:

A fan wearing a Donovan McNabb No. 5 Redskins jersey was asked to remove it. The reason? The fan said the security guard told him Andy Reid took notice when asking him to remove the jersey.

The fan, 43-year-old Jim Devlin from King of Prussia, did not put up a fight when asked to take the jersey off, nor was he escorted from the practice field.

NBC Philadelphia Sports asked and it seems that Andy Reid didn’t actually make the call for this fan to remove his shirt. And, the only reason the fan was asked to take it off was because he was in a VIP area on the sidelines where any opposing team’s jersey wouldn’t be allowed. But the team had no official statement.

Devlin was seen back on the sidelines later in the day wearing a more fan friendly Kevin Kolb jersey. But note that it was a red practice jersey rather than green or white.

The fan in question explained to McManus why he wore the shirt to Lehigh:

Devlin said he wore the same jersey at the Phillies game the other night. His motivation for donning the Redskins McNabb jersey is two-fold.

'I’m a type of guy that likes to stir the pot a little bit,' said Devlin.

'I’m an Eagles fan, but I really like Donovan McNabb. For somebody that is a borderline Hall of Fame guy, people kind of treated him unfairly. There’s always that chance you’ll miss him when he’s gone, especially when it’s October and he throws four touchdowns up on you.'

Let’s give the "fan" what he wants: What do you think about him wearing the jersey and what do you think about Eagles security asking him to remove the jersey?

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