As an Eagles fan, this is a hard post to write, but it is my journalistic duty to cover the story regardless of my personal bias (tear).  Eagles’ player, LeSean McCoy, is under fire for a recent incident that took place at a popular Philly restaurant, PYT, earlier this week.  His normal nice guy demeanor must have been on a “BYE” because McCoy supposedly left a 20-cent tip for his server (oh snap!).  Since then, social media has been lit up with every response, including a copy of his signed receipt.  Now, as a bartender, I can relate to getting stiffed on a tip.  However, it’s usually from a disgruntled guest, a cheap a$$ or maybe even someone who is just having a bad day.  I could not imagine what my reaction would be if a MULTI-MILLION-DOLLAR NFL PLAYER left me less than a $1.00 on a $60.00 tab.

 

 

As the world began to take notice, actor Charlie Sheen decided to chime in via Twitter and publicly pledge $1,000.00 to McCoy’s server.  He tweeted:

 

McCoy didn’t feel much remorse for his actions and actually defended his choice by saying:

Just to be honest, I tip on my service, and there’s a difference between good service and bad service and just having a bad day…There’s a big difference with between being rude and just disrespectful. That’s how that works.  Listen, anybody that knows me knows I’m not disrespectful. Any restaurant that I go around in Philadelphia, I tip very well. I’m very respectful. You check on that restaurant and everybody is talking bad about that place…You can’t just disrespect somebody and [expect] them to tip you. I don’t care who the person is. That’s why I left my card, so they could see my name. Simple as that.

 

As far as his reaction to Sheen leaving a thousand dollars for the server, he added, “That’s cool…I’m happy he’s finally doing something positive.”

 

The owner of PYT, Tommy Up, was the first to spread the word about this whole ordeal when he posted a pic of McCoy’s receipt on the restaurant’s public Facebook page.  He also wrote a statement that read:

I would like to address the LeSean McCoy tipping situation and our role in it.  For starters, I take total and complete responsibility for sharing this receipt. It was not our server’s decision, it was mine. I am to blame.  I decided to take action after some serious thought. And while I’d like to apologize to Mr McCoy, I cannot in good conscience do so. I stand by my actions one hundred percent. Mr McCoy and his three companions came into my place on Monday afternoon, and immediately the whole staff was excited. Mr McCoy is a skilled athlete and is one of our beloved Philadelphia Eagles. A true Philly legend and a sports hero. Understandably my staff was really pumped, especially on the heels of they terrific win the day before. (Go Eagles!). Mr McCoy and his friend sat inside at a booth next to my management and next to me. They were given excellent service. Impeccable service. If anything, our server was a little nervous as was our food runner, because they are big, big fans. He and his group, from the moment they sat down, were verbally abusive to our staff in the most insulting ways. The derogatory statements about women and their sheer contempt for the staff serving them wasn’t the end, however. After Mr McCoy and his group left I looked over and saw their server, my friend, with his head bowed down and with a very confused look on his face. I took the receipt out of his hand and I couldn’t believe that anyone could be so callous. Mr McCoy had left a .03% tip for our staff. Our staff that was beyond excited to see him walk into our burger joint and was excited to serve him. That’s twenty cents on a tab of over $60. Twenty cents that our server has to split with the food runner and the bartender. Two dimes from an insulting multimillionaire. I bet Mr McCoy is usually an awesome dude. And everyone has their bad days. But I’m from Philly and have had the pleasure of meeting many of our bad ass sports heroes. Ron Jaworski I met as a kid and I love. Iverson I loved. Mike Schmidt! You name ’em. I love all of our athletes past and present. Hometown heroes who treat those below them with some respect. And maybe Mr McCoy was having a “bad day” after his big victory all that, but the reports of him receiving “bad service” is a complete slanderous lie, and my crew here is better than that and deserves better than that. At the end of the day, I did what I felt my heart told me to do. And I don’t want anything from Mr McCoy, but…maybe an apology to his server who gave him excellent service would be cool. Again, I am the owner and I take full responsibility for my actions. Eagles fans, I feel ya. Id be pissed too. But a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do and stick up for his friends. Hate mail should be directed to tommy@pytburger.com. I will respond to you right after I catch up on this mornings hate mail.