Joe Buck and Michelle Beisner-Buck on ESPN's "They Call it Late Night with Jason Kelce." Joe Buck and Michelle Beisner-Buck on ESPN’s “They Call it Late Night with Jason Kelce.”
By Sam Neumann on

Why do Philly sports fans hate Joe Buck?

Allow Kylie Kelce to explain.

It’s been 20 years since Joe Buck’s infamous “disgusting act” comment about Randy Moss’ faux mooning incident — entirely unrelated to the Philadelphia sports scene. And even though he’s come a long way since, developing alongside Troy Aikman into one of the best announcing crews in the sport, he’s still public enemy No. 1 in the City of Brotherly Love.

He’s not universally beloved, but he’s well-respected. That is unless “Go Birds” is in your vocabulary.

Kylie Kelce made a brief cameo on the second episode of They Call it Late Night with Jason Kelce, her husband’s new late-night show on ESPN. While the show’s debut left much to be desired, as Awful Announcing’s Drew Lerner wrote— and the ratings agreed — perhaps the addition of Kylie, who dethroned Joe Rogan atop the podcast charts, might change its fortunes.

Oh, and Joe Buck and his wife, Michelle Beisner-Buck, were guests, too.

Working with Buck on ESPN amid his first season on the network’s Monday Night Countdown, there’s one thing the former Philadelphia Eagles center still doesn’t understand: why Philly fans loathe Buck.

So, he went to the best source he could think of — his wife, Kylie.

“No, I personally love Joe,” she said.

But Jason wasn’t about to let her off the hook that easily.

“Well, I was raised in a house where I was taught to dislike Joe Buck,” Kylie admitted. “Yes, he was included in [inaudible].”

But why?

“I mean, I was taught that by my father; I very much recognize the pattern in which he seemed he was always cheering for the other team,” Kyle said, echoing what an average 94WIP caller would say.

Does she have any proof?

Of course not!

But that has never prevented narratives from forming. Eagles fans versus announcers isn’t exactly a new phenomenon. Just ask Greg Olsen, who found himself in the crosshairs last month. Buck, however, seems to have risen above directly addressing fans who accuse him of hating their team(s) at this point in his career, leaving Kelce to uncover the root of the animosity.

It would make for the shortest Pablo Torre Finds Out episode in history.

We know why. Joe knows why. Michelle knows why. Kylie knows why.

And let’s be honest, Jason probably knows why, too.

But in the name of content, Kylie offered the most Philadelphia answer possible, “When I got to meet Joe on the field at Monday Night Football in Kansas City, I was actually annoyed at how nice he was,” Kylie said, “because it completely negated everything I’ve been taught.”

As it turns out, the only thing Philly fans hate more than Joe Buck is realizing he might not deserve it.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann