Dean Eric Furda at the Philadelphia Eagles game after an egregious no-call in the Eagles’ loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday. (Photo from Fox Sports)
The viral meme of Penn’s Dean of Admissions Eric Furda screaming belligerently at a nationally televised Eagles game took a new turn on Tuesday night, when Late Show host Stephen Colbert gave Furda a shout-out on his CBS show.
Furda became a symbolic stand-in for furious Philadelphia Eagles fans city-wide when Fox cameras caught his visceral reaction to an egregious no-call in the Eagles’ loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday.
Soon enough, a video of Furda’s seconds-long tirade found itself retweeted thousands of times on Twitter. Observant viewers recognized Penn’s dean of admissions, who is known for showing similar passion at Quaker sporting events.
The clip gained further attention on Tuesday after Colbert featured Furda during his “Meanwhile“ segment on his late-night show, where the host narrates a grab-bag of content across the internet.
Colbert played the clip of Furda cursing out the referees officiating the Eagles game and described Furda as “super angry.”
“Plot twist: turns out that man is Eric Furda, the University of Pennsylvania’s dean of admissions,” Colbert said to horrified laughter from the audience.
“And when you don't get into UPenn, his rejection letters are brutal,” Colbert said.
Colbert then displayed a doctored image of a Penn rejection letter, with the words “DEAR EMILY, F*** YOU!” scrawled in large black letters.
“Meanwhile I’m kinda surprised that joke survived into the show,” Colbert continued, barely containing his laughter.
In a tweet on Monday morning, Furda poked fun at the situation while admitting he may have overstepped the line.
"After further review of the play I will take the 15 yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct But I will not lose my passion for Philadelphia and Penn sports!" he wrote. "Thanks for all the interview requests but we have a game on Thursday to get ready for which I will watch at home!"
The Eagles travel to face the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night, and unless there is a camera situated by Furda's television, it seems viewers will be robbed of another priceless reaction.
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