Eagles Toss Reporter from Press Box

PHILADELPHIA (973espn.com) - The Eagles ejected a Philadelphia Inquirer reporter from the press box during the team’s season-ending win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday after the writer and a member of the team's public relations staff engaged in a verbal scuffle over etiquette in media work areas.

Security ultimately escorted the reporter, Jeff McLane, from the press box and the stadium in the second half.

Philadelphia Daily News reporter Les Bowen, who was seated close to McLane, tweeted tha McLane was ejected for a violating the organization’s “fan conduct policy,” and he called it "a ridiculous situation.”

Anne Gordon, the Eagles’ executive VP of communications and ironically a former managing editor at the Inquirer, moved in to enforce McLane's punishment and, according to Bowen, threatened to toss other reporters who spoke up for McLane.

The Inquirer stuck by McLane with senior vice president and executive editor Stan Wischnowski defending his employee less than an hour after the game ended.

"We find the actions taken by the Eagles media relations staff to be extremely disappointing and unprofessional," Wischnowski said. "Jeff has spent eight years covering the Eagles exhaustively in a fair, accurate and thorough manner. He's never missed a game or a press conference."

-John McMullen covers the Eagles and the NFL for 973espn.com. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen