PHILADELPHIA — Eagles guard Tyler Steen was talking to a handful of reporters Tuesday afternoon following practice when teammate Fred Johnson walked into the room and declared that “the champ is here.”
Johnson repeated those words three more times.
“He took that Rocky movie seriously,” Johnson yelled in Steen’s direction. “My bad, I mean Creed.”
The light-hearted jabs were part of the price Steen had to pay after being ejected Saturday night during the fourth quarter of the Eagles’ 29-18 win over the Washington Commanders.
Steen knows the other part is going to come in the form of a fine from the NFL later this week, but at least he escaped being suspended for his part in the brawl that erupted after the Eagles converted a two-point conversion on a Saquon Barkley run with 4:26 remaining in the game.
“I don’t know the specific amount yet, but I know the (fine) is coming for sure,” Steen said while speaking for the first time since his ejection. “I definitely will try to appeal it. When I found out I wasn’t suspended, I was definitely relieved and excited that I’m going to be able to go out there and play Sunday (at Buffalo).”
Steen said he doesn’t remember exactly how he got involved in the middle of the brawl with a mob of Commanders players, but replays of the incident show it started as a shoving match between Eagles rookie wide receiver Darius Cooper and Washington safety Will Harris after Barkley had scored.
It appeared as if Cooper gave Harris an extra shove after taking a hand to the facemask during the play and that triggered an explosion of tempers. It was a misconception that it had anything to do with the Eagles going for two points when they were up by three scores with under five minutes to play even though that did infuriate a few Commanders players.
“It got a little physical out there and it escalated quick,” Cooper said. “I don’t think it had anything to do with (the two-point conversion). They didn’t say anything about that.”
Steen initially was seen celebrating the two-point conversion and not involved in the scrum.
“I don’t really remember how it started,” he said. “I just know a bunch of guys were huddled up and somebody was holding Darius and a whole bunch of dudes were surrounding Fred and then it looked like somebody had thrown a punch, so I went over there and tried to do something.”
He ended up throwing a punch at Commanders cornerback Mike Sainristil, who was headed in his direction. After being pulled away by safeties Jeremy Reaves and Quon Martin, Steen threw a punch at Martin. None of his punches appeared to connect, but even if they had all the players involved were smart enough to keep their helmets on during the brawl.
When things finally settled, Steen, Martin and Washington defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw were ejected.
An under reported part of the scuffle was the involvement of Barkley, who jogged off the field and then returned to get into the middle of things. At one point he exchanged words with Washington linebacker Bobby Wagner. Those two apparently mended fences because Barkley praised Wagner’s play after the game.
Steen admitted that he had never been more upset during a game in his life, but he was greeted by an enthusiastic greeting from general manager Howie Roseman as he entered the tunnel to the visiting locker room. He appreciated the GM’s approval, but doesn’t really remember much about anything in the moments after the brawl.
“You’re not really thinking,” he said. “You’re just amped up and seeing red. I was just kind of reacting to what was going on around me. I was really upset. I was really mad, so a lot of the things people were trying to tell me I kind of wasn’t understanding what was going on. I was just trying to collect my thoughts.”
Steen, in his first year as a starter, has had a very good season. Pro Football Focus has him ranked 18th among the 79 guards who have played at least 260 snaps. His 71.7 grade is better than both teammate Landon Dickerson (67.7) and Mekhi Becton (37.1), the player he replaced as a starter. He has allowed just two sacks on 534 pass-blocking snaps and he has played all but one offensive snap this season.