Wake-Up Call: How the Eagles Impact the Crime Rate


The casual conversation with Mychal Kendricks was about Philadelphia, and how much nicer of a place it is to live when the Eagles are winning. Kendricks shot a look like, Man, you aren’t kidding.

“The vibe, people’s moods, everything,” said the linebacker on how the outcome of the game impacts this city. “There is even more crime when we lose…Look it up, it’s a fact.”

Crime goes up? Where was he getting this?

Kendricks explained that Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey visited the team prior to the 2012 season  and suggested that the city was a kinder, gentler place to live after an Eagles victory and that the streets were meaner following a loss.

“He basically said crime rates jump up significantly when we lose,” Kendricks recalled. “He told us that, and I was like, ‘Damn, if that’s a real statistic, we better start winning.’ “

We took Kendricks’ advice and decided to look it up. More specifically, we contacted the Police Commissioner’s office to see if they could provide any data that would potentially support this theory. In response, they listed for Birds 24/7  the number of arrests, by category, on days of 1 o’clock Eagles games dating back to the 2011 season. There were 24 games in all, 11 of which were wins and 13 losses.

In this particular sample size, there was no significant difference when it came to serious crimes. There was a noticeable spike in the number of disorderly conduct arrests on days the Eagles lost, however. There were 19 disorderly conducts cited after wins and 64 following a loss. In other words, the number of those kind of arrests/gameday nearly tripled on days of losses in this sample.

Interestingly, 25 of those 64 arrests on the day of a defeat (40 percent) came during the two home losses to the Giants.

The conclusion? Philly gets a little more ornery following a loss, especially when New Yorkers are in town to rub it in. Sounds about right.

Commissioner Ramsey also broke down the level of arrests across the NFL by position. This how they rank, from most prone to trouble to least, according to Kendricks (with an assist from Cary Williams):

1) Defensive linemen
2) Tight ends
3) Defensive backs
4) Receivers
5) Running backs
6) Linebackers
7) Offensive line
8) Quarterbacks
9) Special teams

‘Kickers,” quipped Casey Matthews, “are usually sticking to golf.”

WHAT YOU MISSED

We dive deeper into the Eagles’ use of sports science and talk about upcoming free agents in the latest Inside Voices. 

Chip Kelly‘s sleep habits and the story behind the Brent Celek-Riley Cooper hand slap in Kapadia’s three leftovers. 

A look at the Eagles’ pass-rusher rankings. 

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

Robert Mays of Grantland names Fletcher Cox as one of his All-22 All-Stars. The headline labels him “A budding superstar.”

 This year, as Philly has turned to a scheme with multiple fronts that asks the defensive linemen to do a little bit of everything, Cox has developed into a Pro Bowl–caliber player. Always considered an athletic marvel, his second year in the league has brought enough refinement and experience to turn him into a complete — and occasionally dominant — defensive lineman.

ESPN Lions writer Michael Rothstein analyzes this Detroit team.

It starts with turnovers and inconsistency. The Lions’ defensive line, the same group that dominated on Thanksgiving, largely disappeared in some earlier games. Turnovers are a major issue, too. The Lions have three or more turnovers in four of their past five games. Against Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh, that was a key factor in those losses. Detroit is a very talented team that continues to feel like a group still finding out exactly how it wants to play.

COMING UP

We’ll roll out our predictions for Eagles-Lions.