Eagles Employee Fired For Bad-Mouthing Team on Facebook

Dude's like, "you can take away my job, but you can't take away my keyboard."

While I promised I wouldn't let my love for Philly sports creep into my posting, this one's actually gotten quite a bit of leverage in the national media in the last few days (it even made ESPN First Take this morning) and is worthy of some good old-fashioned debate. Here's the story, as first reported by the Inquirer and commented on by Matt Mosely of ESPN: 

Dan Leone was a rabid Eagles fan (like there's any other kind) who was living out a dream of working for the organization as a part-time employee. When the Eagles allowed Brian Dawkins to sign with the Broncos, the 32-year-old Leone fired off an angry message on his Facebook. It's the sort of thing you could get away with in a crowded bar in South Philly -- but not in Cyberspace.

The Eagles relieved Leone of his duties over the phone, which added fuel to the fire of the Inquirer's muckraking (and entertaining) new columnist John Gonzalez. You have to appreciate a newspaper that can convince a grown man to pose for a picture while holding his keyboard like a helpless animal.

This was the status Leone posted on his Facebook: 

"Dan is [expletive] devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver. . .Dam Eagles R Retarted!!"

Nevermind the fact that Leone can't spell, but was his firing justified? The Eagles' Front Office is drawing ire for cutting the employee, who only works part time and admitted that the action was stupid and immediately removed the status after the organization saw it. But the bottom line is this: you NEVER bad-mouth your employer in public. 

See, I am a fan and a blogger, with no contractual obligation to the team, so therefore I can say that, yes, the damn Eagles are indeed retarded for letting Dawkins walk.

Whose side are you on? Leone's or the Eagles'?