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Redskins' running back won't let his family come to Philly because of Eagles fans

Chris Thompson said on ESPN 980 Washington that Eagles fans are the "meanest" in the league.

Redskins running back Chris Thompson makes Eagles linebacker Mychal Kendricks miss a tackle during an October 16, 2016 game in front of a friendlier crowd in  Washington.
Redskins running back Chris Thompson makes Eagles linebacker Mychal Kendricks miss a tackle during an October 16, 2016 game in front of a friendlier crowd in Washington.Read moreCLEM MURRAY / Staff Photographer

The Redskins are 3-2 this season, and a big reason for that is Chris Thompson. The fifth-year running back has been a offensive spark plug for Washington, leading the team in both rushing and receiving yards. But on Monday night, his family won't be coming to Philadelphia to watch Thompson and his teammates take on the Eagles.

On Wednesday afternoon, Thompson told ESPN 980 Washington host Bram Weinstein that his family wanted to come to Philadelphia to watch the game, but he told them he wouldn't allow it.

"I heard that's the one stadium you keep your family from going to," Thompson said. "I said, 'Absolutely not, you're going to have to wait until Dallas comes around.' Because my stepdad, he's a big guy. And if he starts fighting, it'll be real bad out there. I was told that right away my rookie year: 'Keep your family away.' "

Thompson himself is excited to come into town, saying, "Philly fans are some of the meanest fans I've ever experienced, too, so I'm excited about that as well."

Weinstein asked Thompson if he had any specific stories about Eagles fans behaving badly at Lincoln Financial Field, and the young running back responded with a particularly tame tale featuring the use of the word "dang."

"So two years ago, you see a lot of the players pre-game when we run out of the tunnel, guys just go pray or whatever in the end zone," Thompson said. "I went and prayed in the end zone, and one of the [fans] told me, he was like, 'God's not going to help you today.' And I was like oh, shoot. I heard it while I was praying. I was like dang. All right, that's a little harsh."

Weinstein told Thompson he's afraid to drive into Philadelphia to cover games because of his out-of-state license plates.

"I'm going up there and I have Maryland tags. I was telling my producer yesterday, 'I don't know where I'm going to park,' " Weinstein said. "I've had problems. I'm not kidding. I've had problems. They just see those tags and think you're associated with the wrong team."

"I mean, you know, that's their fans," Thompson responded. "That's their base. And if they're like that, that's just what it is."

Listen:

There is a long tradition of Washington players complaining about their treatment from Eagles fans. Last season, linebacker Terence Garvin said fans called him a "b——" after a brawl during their Week 15 matchup with the Eagles.

"It's a hostile stadium here. I think that makes the game better though. You feel it," Garvin told NBC Sports Washington following the game. "Hostility is never a bad thing, it's a hostile game. Don't take hostility as a negative."

In 2014, former defensive lineman Chris Baker said fans threw "tartar sauce or some mustard" at him after being ejected from an Eagles game after a dirty hit on then-starting quarterback Nick Foles.

"Um, it just missed," Baker said, responding to questions about the flying objects from reporters. "It's Philadelphia. You've got to expect it."

In 2008, Fred Smoot called Eagles fans "the meanest fans in the NFL, no doubt. My momma never came to watch me play in Philly, and I bet she never will, because I care about her too much." That was the same year Washington's team bus was egged in Philadelphia as it pulled into Lincoln Financial Field. It was egged again in 2013.

"I'm talking about the middle of the bus, like, bammmm, like busted and everything," former defensive tackle Kedric Golston told the Washington Post. "I ain't never been thrown eggs at. I mean, at Philly, they throw everything."