12 Times Sports Figures Called Out Their Own Fans
Lee Elia's famous 1983 rant toward Chicago Cubs fans is and will probably always be the most famous instance of a sports figuring calling out the home crowd. It was brutal. Really, listen to it on YouTube (but not at work—that bad boy is the definition of NSFW).
Elia is certainly not the only coach or player to call out his own fans. In the years since, Kobe Bryant has done it, and so has Jurgen Klopp. Even Larry Fitzgerald has done it.
The following are 12 examples of sports figures letting the home fans have it. Most are fairly recent, but there's a few examples from further back that we just had to include. The complaints vary, and some are more understandable than others.
As a general rule, it's probably smart to refrain from calling out the folks responsible for your salary, but then again, fans are not immune to criticism. Sometimes they deserve it.
Read on, and decide for yourself. Did the fans deserve to be called out?
Duke Ihenacho and Fans at Training Camp
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Players have called out fans in the past for not showing up to games. Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones recently called the lackluster attendance during a key homestand "eerie," per Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun.
But training camp?
In August, Washington safety Duke Ihenacho tweeted: "Yo maybe it's me...but the number of fans at camp practices look kinda thin. I thought skins fans came deep 🤔. Where y'all at?"
According to Keely Diven of CSN Mid-Atlantic, many fans responded. One fan, @JulioIsTheName, tweeted, "@NachoLyfe we have regular 9-5s homie. Slip me $200 and maybe I'll take the hour and a half drive and hold up a sign for you lol."
(Insert obligatory Allen Iverson "practice" reference here.)
Kobe Bryant Tells Fans to 'Shut Up'
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The Los Angeles Lakers started the 2012-13 season 0-2. According to Lisa Dillman of the Los Angeles Times, then-guard Kobe Bryant picked up on a "level of panic" around the city and spoke about it during a post-practice media session.
Per Dillman, Bryant said, "I'm always surprised when I lose. At the same time, [the panic] is pretty entertaining to me."
Regarding the idea that the offense be reworked, Bryant added, per Dillman:
"I just ... I don't understand ... the city here ... for me not trying to bite my tongue and not calling them dumb, which I kinda just did. They've seen us win multiple championships here, playing an offense that was tough to learn, that was a sequence of options that weren't set plays that took five guys being on the same page of working together. They know how that stuff works. For them to be so stupid now. They say, 'Well, let Steve [Nash] dribble the ball around and create opportunities for everybody. And let Dwight [Howard] post up and let me iso.' It's ... I don't want to say idiotic, but it's close.
"
And finally, "Everybody shut up. Let us work." Classic Kobe.
The Lakers did end up making the playoffs that year but lost in the first round.
Bryce Harper Calls Early Fan Exit 'Brutal'
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During a September playoff push in 2015, Washington Nationals players Bryce Harper and then-closer Jonathan Papelbon each expressed disappointment in the home fans.
"I got a little bone to pick with fans," Papelbon, who pitched two innings in an extra-innings win over the Atlanta Braves, said, per Eddie Matz of ESPN.com. "I saw a few of 'em sitting down. We need to stand up in those situations. 'Cuz this is playoff baseball."
Later, after an 8-5 loss to the New York Mets, Harper said of the home fans, per Matz: "They left in the seventh, so you know, that's pretty brutal."
The Nats did not end up making the playoffs, but you know? That's probably not the fault of the fans.
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Jurgen Klopp: 'We Decide When It's Over'
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Clearly, leaving early is one type of fan behavior players and coaches really don't seem to appreciate. Case in point: After Miami Heat fans left Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals early and missed a monster comeback, Chris Bosh said, "Don't come back for Game 7," per Dan Devine of Yahoo Sports.
More recently, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp scolded fans for early departures. After a 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace last November, Klopp told reporters, per Mail Online:
"The goal was on 82 minutes – 12 minutes to go – and I saw many people leaving the stadium. I turned around and, I watch my team and I felt pretty alone in that moment. We decide when it's over. But between 82 and 94 minutes you can make eight goals if you want and we have to work for it. It feels so bad because it was not necessary.
"
Sure, it might be frustrating to see fans walk out with the game still in reach, but still. Free will is a thing.
James Franklin Says Missouri Fans Are 'Rudest'
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Back in 2013, then-Missouri quarterback James Franklin got himself in some hot water with fans after he said this in response to a question about his first year in the SEC: "Well actually, probably the rudest fans that I experienced were Mizzou, my own fans," per Terez A. Paylor of the Wichita Eagle.
It sure sounded a lot like he said Missouri had the rudest fans in the SEC.
According to Franklin, however, that's not what he meant. Per Paylor, the QB later clarified he was speaking about just one individual Missouri fan who "said something pretty bad, and it was just the worst thing I heard last year."
Bruce Arians Slams Fans for Selling Tickets
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What else about fans frustrates players and coaches? The secondary ticket market, for one (join the club).
Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald spoke indirectly on the topic after he noticed a bunch of Minnesota Vikings fans at a home game last December.
Per the Arizona Republic (via John Breech of CBS Sports), he said, "It drives me crazy that, after two (great) years, we come into a game with a 10-2 record and an opportunity to close out the division, and we still have 20,000 Vikings fans in the stadium. That irks me."
Head coach Bruce Arians agreed. He told KTAR-AM in Arizona (via Breech), "It's going to take a little more time to stop seeing waves and just complete sections of the visiting team where you normally see Cardinal fans. I don't give a s--t how much you get for your tickets, it ain't worth it [to sell them]."
While a whole mess of visiting fans would surely be frustrating, it's not really up to Arians to tell his fans what to do about their tickets and money.
Former Phillies GM Says Fans 'Don't Understand'
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It's not unusual for sports fans to have opinions when it comes to front office decisions, trades, player acquisitions, etc. But in May 2015, apparently former Philadelphia Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. had had enough.
Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly asked Amaro about plans for a few minor league prospects. He referenced Phillies fans when he replied (via Israel Fehr of Yahoo Sports):
"They don't understand the game. They don't understand the process. There's a process. And then they [b****] and complain because we don't have a plan. There's a plan in place and we're sticking with the plan. We can't do what's best for the fan. We have to do what's best for the organization so the fan can reap the benefit of it later on. That's the truth.
"
He later elaborated during an interview on 94 WIP (via Fehr): "I didn't say they don't understand. Some fans don't understand it's not all Philadelphia fans."
Blake Bortles Compares Fans to Kindergartners
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Part of the reason many fans love sports is the conversation. Sports provide things to talk about, points to argue over—that kind of thing.
Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles is apparently not always a fan of that. In September 2015, Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk reported Jags fans criticized Bortles' play-calling during a loss against the Carolina Panthers.
Per Smith, Bortles said, "I don't know. It's like a kindergartner saying something to a college kid."
Ooh, burn (probably true in most cases, but still, burn). As Smith wrote, "But that's what fans do, and Bortles had better get used to it."
Nets' Team Twitter Account Calls out Home Crowd
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The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Toronto Raptors in their first-round playoff matchup in 2014, but it wasn't all smooth sailing.
At one point, Brooklyn trailed by 18 during Game 5 in Toronto, and the Nets' official Twitter account put this out there: "#Nets fans take note- this is what a playoff crowd sounds like..set your DVD and take notes #RAPTORSvNETS – LR."
Not great. (Also, "set your DVD?") The team later apologized. For what it's worth, though, then-Nets stars Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce also made comments about lackluster fan support in that series.
"They could do better," Garnett said, per Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com. "I was expecting Brooklyn to be real hostile, New York-style. I know what it's like to come here as the opposition, so our crowd could do better, but they were there when we needed them, and we fed off of them."
Tyler Collins Gives His Fans the Bird
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No one likes getting booed by their own fans, but Detroit Tigers outfielder Tyler Collins took his displeasure to a new level during an April loss to the Oakland Athletics.
Fans sent boos in Collins' direction after he failed to successfully field a catchable pop fly, apparently losing the ball under the lights.
Collins was not happy about the subsequent booing from the home crowd. He promptly turned and flipped the fans the bird—his own fans. The incident was caught on tape.
"Nobody wants that ball to get lost less than me," Collins said after the game, per Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. "That hurts. And to be at home and to hear boos after that play, it hit a trigger inside of me and I lashed out, completely inappropriately. I'm absolutely embarrassed that happened and I'm very sorry to everybody in Detroit."
Aaron Rodgers Calls out Fan Who Interrupted Moment of Silence
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Many times, it seems uncalled-for when players call out their own fans (aka the folks who indirectly pay their salaries). And yet, sometimes an admonishment is completely warranted.
In November 2015, over 120 people died in a terrorist attack in Paris. The following weekend, the Green Bay Packers held a moment of silence at Lambeau Field (as did many teams around the league) before the team's game against the Detroit Lions.
According to Gerry Ahern of USA Today, one fan "shouted out a slur against Muslims during the moment of silence."
After the game, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers told reporters, per Ahern: "I must admit I was very disappointed with whoever the fan was that made a comment that was very inappropriate during the moment of silence. It's that kind of prejudicial ideology that puts us in the position we are today as a world."
It's not clear whether the fan supported the Packers or Lions, but Rodgers clearly would have made the same comment either way.
Lee Elia's Rant
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Obviously, there cannot be a "calling out one's own fans" list without Lee Elia, the OG. Back in 1983, the former Chicago Cubs manager went on one of sports' most famous tirades after a 4-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers added to a 5-14 start to the season.
Speaking to a reporter after the game, Elia unleashed a three-plus-minute, highly NSFW rant aimed at the home crowd.
Here's just a sampling, per Wayne Drehs of ESPN.com: "I'll tell you one [expletive] thing, I hope we get [expletive] hotter than [expletive] so we can stuff it up them 3,000 [expletive] people that show up every [expletive] day, because if they're the real Chicago [expletive] fans, they can kiss my [expletive] right downtown. AND PRINT IT."
According to Drehs, Elia was unaware he was being filmed and quickly apologized. The Cubs fired him later that season.
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