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Read the news of the day in less than 10 minutes — not that we’re counting.
Sometimes in Philadelphia, bars and athletes don’t mix. Just before 3 a.m. Sunday, police say former Eagles running back LeSean McCoy and three other men attacked off-duty police officers over a bottle of champagne. It happened at Recess Lounge in Old City.
McCoy — who’s partied at Recess before — is not alone in this category. The last few years, these athletes have been in the news for things that happened at Philadelphia bars. And most of the time, the news hasn’t been good for them.
Misconduct Tavern: McCoy and Jahlil Okafor
McCoy was apparently at Misconduct Tavern last night. That’s where Philly Influencer asked him on video if he had anything to say to the fans about his behavior from Recess Lounge. McCoy said, “I made a mistake.”
Okafor, 19, couldn’t get into Misconduct Tavern last fall. He reportedly used a fake ID and was denied service.
Okafor definitely hasn’t had the best of times at bars in Philadelphia during his brief tenure here thus far. Last fall, he also had a gun pointed at him in an altercation in Old City.
32 Degrees: Jason Michaels
Michaels, a former Phillies outfielder, was at 32 Degrees after attending the Live 8 concert in 2005. Outside the bar, on Second Street, he was charged with punching and wrestling an officer to the ground. Police said four or five men were needed to restrain him. Michaels was later forced to serve 100 hours of community service with the Police Athletic League.
32 Degrees is no longer around. Cuba Libre is at its former location.
Copabanana: Raheem Brock
Philly native Brock was on the Seattle Seahawks’ roster in June 2011 when he and a couple of friends went to the Copabanana on South Street and were charged with walking out on a $27 bill. They were convicted later that year but later found not guilty on appeal.
This is what really happened: One of Brock’s friends brought a cheesesteak from Ishkabibble’s into the outside seating area of Copabanana. They were asked to leave and canceled their orders. They walked across the street to Ishkabibble’s, where police arrested them. The trial at which Brock was acquitted lasted two days.
Odd as the story sounds, it had significant repercussions for Brock. He wasn’t re-signed by the Seahawks for the 2011 season and he thought the Copabanana incident was part of the reason.
Several clubs: DeSean Jackson
Jackson was released from the Eagles in March 2014. Before then, apparently, the Philadelphia nightclub scene cut him. CSN reported that several clubs told him or his friends they didn’t want him at their establishments because he was a “disruptive factor.”
