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Just how bad were Eagles fans?

They were splendid, awesome … and then gameday arrived.

MINNEAPOLIS - Before Sunday's game it felt like Minnesotans and heck, Minnesota media, this station included, were being soft as we were talking about how scary it would be to play in Philly, how mean some of the fans are.

Chris Hrapsky went with a team of KARE 11 journalists to cover the game, they heard but weren’t into heeding any of those warnings.

“We were being warned, everybody was being warned and we all roll our eyes like I think we got this,” Chris said today, just off the plane ride home from Philly.

The reputation of how some fans at Eagles games behave, or rather gratuitously misbehave is well documented, so Chris went in with an open mind.

He spent Saturday in the city and was fully being embraced by an entire city of love.

“They were splendid, awesome…everywhere everyone we met they were kind, courteous and classy,” Chris said.

And then gameday arrived.

Chris said he saw with his own eyes, beers being thrown at people near him, people picking fights with any Vikings fan, Vikings fans being pushed and cursed at repeatedly.

“It’s not everyone but it’s not one percent. There's a large minority of Philly fans who were complicit and involved in being way over the line,” Chris said.

Other Minnesota sports reporters saw the same thing.

Mark Rosen over at WCCO tweeted he had never heard as many horror stories as he did at this game from Vikings fans.

KFAN’S Chris Hawkey told me today it was the worst he has ever seen, he said the environment at that game was dangerous and that there was nothing playful about it.

So I asked the Mayor of Philadelphia, Jim Kenney, what he had to say about it; here is his statement in full.

"I find the actions of those fans disgusting and regrettable. We're certain they represent a small portion of the team's loyal and passionate fan base, but the simple fact is that no visiting fan should have to put up with such treatment. I don't think these knuckleheads are necessarily even from the city – some of the few who were arrested were from the outlying suburbs. But I realize that is no consolation to those who were treated poorly. I want them to know that I don't like what happened. These clowns need to learn how to act like adults."

Some Eagles fans are reaching into their pocketbooks to apologize. The foundation for Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer tweeted Tuesday tweeted "A flood of donations" coming in from Eagles fans, many apologizing for how their fans treated Vikings (fans, players) when they were in their city.

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