https://www.crossingbroad.com/2020/07/denzel-mims-believes-philadelphia-is-a-dirty-ass-trash-ass-city.html

Denzel Mims was a really good receiver at Baylor.

6'3, 207 pounds, a big body who caught everything thrown his way. He was originally seen as a possible Eagles draft pick in the late first round or early/middle second round, if they had decided to move out of the 21st overall pick.

Back in April, he was on the Inside the Birds podcast with Adam Caplan and Geoff Mosher, and said he was "very scared" when visiting Philly:

Quote:

---

"I went with a couple teammates and my head coach (Matt Rhule). We went up there and just spent a lot of time together. And the experience I had, I was very scared. I wasn't familiar with the whole city and it was a lot going on. You see a lot of people that look scary. And, you know, I'm not part of that, I don't like that. I mean, I had a bad experience, you could say, going up there that first time. But I feel like if I go there more and if I get familiar with it, I'll have a great time."

---

If he thinks Philly was "scary" back then, he should come back now. Sounds like a war zone every night with the fireworks going off, and we had rioting and looting in West Philly and up along Aramingo Avenue. He's from bumble-F Texas, and Waco (where Baylor is located) isn't exactly a bustling metropolis, so maybe he was just uncomfortable in a big and unfamiliar city.

Apparently Mims still has an anti-Philly thing going on, because he was recently doing a Call of Duty stream and said this:

Wait until he sees where the Jets play. Talk about a beautiful landscape up there in North Jersey.

The Birds passed on Mims twice, and he went to New York with the 59th overall pick. I can only speak for myself, but I'd rather live in dirty ass, trash-ass Philadelphia and play for Doug Pederson than live in the New York/New Jersey region and play for Adam Gase.

But to each their own.

I've seen reports of this before and I think they were all from Philly locals who were unhappy with it. I've never been there but I've heard enough about it over the years; I wonder if maybe he was correct.

Doesn't his description cover most big cities nowadays?

I lived in Philadelphia and loved it. I am sure he would not live in the rough areas. All large cities have good and rough areas.

Good point. There are nice areas of most any city & terrible areas. If you're going to live in one the key is to be selective. That said, I've never lived in a city larger than Waco & don't want to.

Welll he is right. That is one dirty ass city. Filled with opioid junkies. Just google Philadelphia and Kensington. Big difference for a country kid to stumble upon that type of stuff. Only thing he is forgetting is he going to be a millionaire, he won't really be in those areas

In my experience, Phily people are interesting and fiercely territorial. While they will acknowledge the shortcomings of their community, they don't take too kindly to outsiders criticism of such.

historian said:

---

I've seen reports of this before and I think they were all from Philly locals who were unhappy with it. I've never been there but I've heard enough about it over the years; I wonder if maybe he was correct.

---

I've been twice and it's pretty gross. Just a few blocks down from the Liberty Bell (which is in a nice, touristy area) you'll see trash all over the sidewalks, homeless people on every corner, and half-vacant shopping malls. Not kidding. I walked from the Liberty Bell to Reading Terminal Market, both big tourist spots, and there is like a 3-4 block stretch that is just wasteland. It's a weird city. The history is super cool and any big city will have culture and fun/interesting things to do, but overall it's a pretty dingy place.

Our daughter attended Temple on a partial athletic scholarship (rowing). Parts of Philly are definitely rough, and her spending 4 years there did wonders for my prayer life. Nevertheless, we found downtown, the historic areas, South Street, Boathouse Row, etc.. to be full of character and interesting. A lot of renovation going on in the Temple U area, as well as others. Certainly prefer it to NYC.

curtpenn said:

---

Our daughter attended Temple on a partial athletic scholarship (rowing). Parts of Philly are definitely rough, and her spending 4 years there did wonders for my prayer life. Nevertheless, we found downtown, the historic areas, South Street, Boathouse Row, etc.. to be full of character and interesting. A lot of renovation going on in the Temple U area, as well as others. Certainly prefer it to NYC.

---

I don't think the historical area will be there much longer.

Au contraire mon frere. They will replace the Matthias Baldwin statue with one of DeSean Jackson. That's still history, right?

And the injury curse of BU athletes in the NFL continues ...

He's not wrong.