Former Eagle Seth Joyner, Philly fans lay into Agholor for lack of effort
Nelson Agholor might not be able to “kill ‘em with kindness” his way out of this one.
Last month, a citizen hero in Philadelphia who helped rescue a family from its burning home said “unlike Agholor” he was able to catch the children who were escaping the home, taking a swipe at the receiver who had two drops and a fumble in that week’s game. Agholor responded by inviting the man to the Eagles’ next home game.
Agholor was ripped again by fans and a former Eagles player on Sunday night after he appeared to not make an effort for a deep ball in the fourth quarter, a likely touchdown that would have pulled the Eagles closer at 30-17 with 11 minutes left in the game.
‘You wouldn’t even dive for that football?’
Here’s video of the play in question:
Does Agholor know he’s allowed to catch this? pic.twitter.com/sFCqyEdvP8
— Patrick (@pmc_cmp3) October 21, 2019
Agholor doesn’t dive or in any way appear to make a play for the ball; from this angle, it looks like he gives up on the play.
Seth Joyner, who spent the first eight years of his 13-year NFL career with the Eagles and now works with NBC Sports Philadelphia, laid into Agholor on the station’s “Postgame Live” program:
“I've been defending [Nelson] for a long time,” Joyner said. “I've been trying to be the guy that sees the positives in his skill sets. Deep down inside, there's either some pitbull, some dog in you or there ain't. There's nothing but puppy in him. When I saw him not lay out for that ball, could it have been a better ball, absolutely, but not to see the effort. One thing that doesn't cost you anything is effort. You're going to go up to the window tomorrow and pick up your paycheck and you put that effort out. You wouldn't even dive for that football in a game that mattered?”
He wasn’t the only one. Search “Agholor” on Twitter ... it’s not pretty.
‘The ball was out of position’
For his part, Agholor said after the game that the ball was “out of position,” and indicated that perhaps Carson Wentz didn’t place it properly.
“I tried to get open,” Agholor said. “I was hauling tail, make a move on the safety, use the space that I had to run across the field, and I was running and by the time I was trying to track it, the ball was already out of position. I wish I was able to get there, but I don't know what happened. … I don't know if he was rushed or whatever, but we had enough field and I was trying to get there.”
Wentz was pressured on the play, and there were at least some on Twitter who said the pass was overthrown.
But the visual of Agholor not laying out for the ball or doing something to at least make the catch, even if it wasn’t for a touchdown, is what critics are responding to.
More from Yahoo Sports:
