Most Destructive Fans In Sports? Philadelphia Eagles Fans May Have Edge After Crisco, Police Horse Incidents

As the Philadelphia Eagles seek their first Super Bowl title following their victory over the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship, the city's reputation for boorish fan behavior has become the subject of renewed attention. In recent weeks, some unruly acts by some Philadelphia fans have drawn national headlines.

There have been two separate incidents of Eagles fans punching a police officer and his horse. The first incident took place on Jan. 13, when 22-year-old Taylor Hendricks was ejected from a playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field and then proceeded to repeatedly punch a police horse. He also struck a police officer in the legs.

The second incident took place Sunday in the stadium parking lot, when police said 19-year-old Andrew Tornetta punched a State Police horse twice and then punched the police officer on the right side of his face. Video captured Tornetta bleeding from the bridge of his nose.

Aside from the two incidents, police have said that there have not been many arrests. Some of the relative calm could be due to preemptive measures by Philadelphia police, who were out in full force to keep the city calm during playoff games.

Police even applied Crisco to poles throughout the city to make them too slippery to climb. "Crisco Cops" later became a trending topic.

Despite the efforts, a video surfaced that showed a man climbing a pole.

Eagles fans behaving badly is nothing new. On Saturday, Joe Trinacria of Philadelphia magazine detailed the long history of Eagles fans' most heinous acts.

The most famous story of Eagles' fans churlish disposition dates back to 1968. In "The Great Philadelphia Fan Book" by Glen Macnow, an entire chapter is devoted to why fans infamously booed and threw snowballs at Santa Claus. On a miserably cold day and the last game of a 2-12 season, the man who originally was supposed to show up dressed as Santa canceled, so the Eagles organization instead asked a 20-year-old fan at the game who was dressed as Santa to fill in. While some Eagles fans claimed that the Santa was drunk and in a bad Santa suit, the real reason for the pelting of snowballs and the jeers was the frustration of a terrible Eagles season, according to Macnow.

"It's become one of these great urban tales, handed down in sports from generation to generation," Macnow said, according to an Associated Press article in 2005.

And Philadelphia's unsavory reputation is not limited to just football games. There was a well-publicized incident of a fan at a Philadelphia Phillies game vomiting on an 11-year-old girl and her father, and when the Phillies won the 2008 World Series there were many reports of bus shelters destroyed and windows smashed, among other acts of vandalism. In 2012, a video surfaced of Philadelphia Flyer fans assaulting two men wearing New York Rangers jerseys.

However, some may say Philadelphia's reputation for ill-behaved fans may be blown out of proportion, as many other cities have had their share of fans involved in criminal conduct.

Riots erupted in Vancouver after Game 7 of the 2011 Stanley Cup, with 140 people reported injured and 268 people receiving a total of 814 charges, according to the CBC.

In 2011, a 42-year-old San Francisco Giants fan, Bryan Stow, suffered severe head injuries after he was assaulted in the Dodger Stadium parking lot by Los Angeles Dodger fans.

In 2002, two Chicago White Sox fans jumped onto the field at Comiskey Park to attack a Kansas City Royals first base coach.