What's it like for a sports fan to be on the receiving end of a punch to the face that leaves you dazed and flat on your back?
Thanks to Dan McQuade over at Philly Mag who spoke with the New York Giants fan who was wearing an Eli Manning jersey and was knocked down with one swift punch to the face at 69th Street Terminal, we no longer have to wonder.
The story mostly goes how you'd expect. Opposing fans were jawing about their teams during a subway/El ride after their two teams played at the Linc, mostly harmless stuff, then it escalated once some physical activity was involved.
Oh, and alcohol. The Giants fan admits that being drunk played a part in the incident.
[WATCH: Idiot Eagles fan punches idiot Giants fan in the face | WATCH: Police release surveillance video of Giants-Eagles fan fight]
Ant Righter is the Delco native who somehow curiously became a Giants fan and was on the receiving end of an Eagles fan swing after the Monday Night Football game earlier in the week. He told his story to Philly Mag.
"They started saying worse stuff to me," Righter told McQuade over the phone. "I was ignoring them at first. And then I started saying stuff back. I had a hat in my back pocket, and [someone] took the hat and threw it on the ground. So I got mad. And I snapped out. He seemed like he was gonna fight me — the kid who grabbed my hat. Like anybody else would, I was pissed that he grabbed my property. So I did that [snapped out] and the kid walked away. And as I was walking away, and that’s when I was looking behind me. They were still talking to me, saying a bunch of crap. Next thing I know, this guy came out of nowhere and hit me."
NFL
"If I wasn’t that intoxicated I probably could have controlled the situation, but stuff happens. But there’s still no right, I should be able to go to game in a Giants jersey and not get punched. After the guy grabbed my hat, I did get mad. And I was drunk, and I did snap out. There was no excuse, I was drunk. After the kid took my hat, I walked away. Yeah, I was snapping on him. He probably would have snapped on me too, if I took his hat. If anyone says they wouldn’t do that, they're lying."
There you have it. That's the Giants fan's side of the story.
What I -- and probably many others would still like a better explanation for -- is how exactly this guy from Delco wound up being a New York Giants fan? Seems unacceptable. He gives a mostly incomprehensible answer to McQuade to that very question.
What have we learned from all of this? Not much that we didn't already know. Alcohol mixed with sporting events and enemy fans can be a recipe for unsafe things.