Nelson Agholor, Peace & Love, Peace & Love.

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Nelson Agholor is struggling, to put it lightly. I’ll confess. I was at my house screaming at him through the television and taking to social media.

Then, Agholor had to go and get all brutally honest after the loss. He stood at his locker answering tough questions about his mental mistakes and his dropped passes. NJ.com captured the moment on video:

Here’s the transcript:

“I can’t get out of my own head. I’m pressing so much..and worrying about so much…I gotta go out there trying to catch the ball like this instead of with my hands because I’m thinking too much…so worried and that’s such a selfish thing that I need to stop. I need to give my energy to my teammates and this organization and not myself..and feeling so pressured to make every single thing and just have fun”

Keep in mind Agholor is a wide receiver. When is the last time you heard a WR calling himself out like that, owning his failures? They tend to be the most obnoxious, ego-maniacal players on the roster. Just last week, Dorial Green Beckham blamed Wentz for his lackluster performance stating that he’s been open, but hasn’t been getting the ball thrown his way.

How many times have players refused to talk to the press after a performance as bad as Agholor’s?

Agholor took the heat. His eyes were wide like a deer in headlights and they bounced nervously from left to right. A drop of sweat dripped down the left side of his face.

He then answered questions from CSN’s Derek Gunn. Gunner pulled no punches as he asked Agholor if he realized how many Eagles fans are down on him. Nelson didn’t get defensive. He apologized and demonstrated empathy with Eagles fans saying, “They love this team.”

I can’t be mad at this dude. Not the way he looked after the game. Football is, after all, a game. Yeah, he’s getting millions of dollars, but that doesn’t make struggling in your profession any easier if you have any bit of pride. If you’re an asshole, sure the millions are all that matter. But, looking at Agholor on those interviews, you know he cares and he’s hurting in a way that’s larger than football. He’s a kid who caught over a hundred balls in his junior year at USC and has lost all confidence.

I don’t want to hear he’s weak or man-up, whatever that means. I would love these “tough guys” on sports radio to have 70,000 jumping on every mistake they made at work and then getting lambasted on Facebook, Twitter, TV, print.

Doug needs to give Agholor a breather. The Flyers sat Ghost for a game. More importantly, get sports psychologist Dr. Joel Fish down to NovaCare immediately.

I’d like to say stop with the venom toward Agholor, but to each their own. I do know that Agholor came forward and admitted he’s struggling mentally with the pressure of being a #1 pick in a football-crazed east coast city. He is a kid who was born in Nigeria, grew up in Florida and played in Southern California. Our fandom is far more intense and scrutinizing than those locales.

Showing some compassion and empathy so he gets his head right can’t hurt. He’s gonna be here for at least another year because he’s a $4M cap hit if he’s cut next year. We might as well do what we (fans) can do create a safe space for Agholor to flourish. We’ve done it before. Remember when Burrell struggled near the Mendoza line? Phillies fans showed him more compassion than I may have ever seen for a player playing so poorly. He was a #1 overall pick! Burrell finally got right and eventually helped win the 2008 World Series.