Why New Jersey’s George Norcross threatens to sue NFL? Exploring the American-Israeli flag incident at Eagles game

The Philadelphia Eagles are the only NFL team with one defeat till Week 9. Their winning streak is stretching gradually, thanks to their quarterback Jalen Hurts’ incredible athleticism and superb leadership that let him join the elite club of NFL icons.

Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys slipped to 5-3 after embracing a 23-28 loss from Philly. The loss snatched away their potential to be the divisional champions and the Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott summarized it as nothing but painful. The day was also painful for an Eagles fan as George Norcross, an insurance mogul as well as chairperson at Cooper University Hospital, was ejected from the match due to a controversial incident.

Eagles ejected George Norcross from the game

During the Eagles vs Cowboys showdown, Norcross draped a flag to showcase America’s support for Israel from the window of a luxury box at Lincoln Financial Field. During the first half of the game, he was caught in a confrontation with a security guard who reached for the flag that combined both the American and Israeli flags into one.

In the video posted by a fan on social media X, formerly known as Twitter, the prominent businessman was later seen pushing his hand against the chest of the worker. He was eventually ejected from the Week 9 match.

The flag policy of the stadium prohibits carrying “signs, banners or other items that are obscene or indecent, not event related, potentially offensive to other patrons, capable of blocking the views of other fans or otherwise deemed dangerous or inappropriate”, via Fox29.

The Philly team said in a statement that they had asked Norcross to take down the flag per the policy but he didn’t do it. The team statement also revealed the ejection was due to his “physically and verbally abusive” behavior towards the guard.

“Our stadium policies expressly prohibit signage containing any kind of non-game messaging to be hung from a stadium suite. Stadium staff repeatedly asked Mr. Norcross to remove the sign he hung outside of the suite. Instead of complying with the request, Mr. Norcross became physically and verbally abusive. Mr. Norcross was ejected from the stadium only after his abuse toward numerous stadium staff members continued. He was escorted from the suite level to the stadium’s ejection point, just as anyone else would be after engaging in abusive behavior in violation of stadium policy.”

A spokesperson for the City of Philadelphia confirmed the news saying the Philly franchise tried to handle the matter privately. Even Mayor Jim Kenney came from another luxury suite to tell the Camden County native to comply with the stadium’s flag policy.

George Norcross threatens to sue NFL

Following the removal from the Week 9 match, Norcross said he saw that the Eagles/ NFL make strong statements on several important civil justice issues and conflicts. He said the flag was brought in the stadium to seek justice for Israel which was attacked by Hamas a month ago.

The veteran also urged the Eagles franchise, the league, and the stadium’s security to address the situation while saying they will have to bear the consequence of ejecting him from the stadium.

“The Eagles leadership, the NFL and the security firm that conducts the security at the stadium are certainly responsible for these actions. They’re going to have to be accountable for that and answer to the manner of which they ejected me from the stadium, locking my arms behind my back, grabbing me like I’m some kind of thug in the street, it’s highly inappropriate and offensive to Jewish citizens because of what we were trying to make a statement for and a simple statement.”

The New Jersey businessman also said he doesn’t get why the US-Israeli flag should be assumed ‘obscene or indecent’ or inappropriate while adding the threat of filing a lawsuit for the action.

“But as I consider whether to file suit against the Philadelphia Eagles, the NFL and the security company which yanked me out of the box and paraded me in front of thousands of fans, I urge other supporters of Israel to make their feelings known to the team and the NFL just as they have to universities like Penn and Harvard.”

Norcross doubled down on his full support for Israel and said he will be a “proud and vocal defender” of the country.

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