Too far, Gritty. Too far.
Per multiple reports, Gritty — the Flyers' haggard-but-somehow-lovable-and-admittedly-hilarious mascot — is being investigated by police for allegedly punching a 13-year-old boy in the back during a photo shoot in November.
Per Chris Greenwell, father to the 13-year-old boy in question, Brandon, Gritty "took a running start" and punched his child "as hard as he could" in the back. This followed Brandon allegedly hitting Gritty in the head in a playful manner.
“The investigation is active and on-going,” police have said.
“At no time did I state that one of my colleagues hit your son," Laurie Kleinman, vice president of risk management at Comcast Spectacor, told Greenwell in a Dec. 23 email. “Gritty, however, recalls being hit on the head repeatedly by someone during one of the earlier photo shoots.”
Chris claims Brandon experienced pain after the event and had to see a chiropractor, who diagnosed him with a "contusion to lower thoracic spine with subluxation." In other words, Brandon suffered a bruised back.
“I know it was not correct for my son to harmlessly tap him on his head but for a Flyers employee to get [sic] throw a full punch at someone with his back turned and hurt a 13 year old boy is assault, unprofessional and unacceptable for your organization,” Greenwell said.
Adding an interesting layer to this, the Flyers reportedly made multiple offers for Brandon to make up for the incident — even though they could find no evidence of Gritty punching Brandon after an internal investigation that included interviews with Gritty and Gritty's handler. One of those offers included letting Brandon sit on the players' bench during warm-ups.
That, however, wasn't enough, and the two sides apparently cannot find common ground here. In fact, Greenwell reportedly canceled his season tickets after 22 years of loyal fandom.
Ouch. He never even got to experience the magic of a Stanley Cup victory!
Stay tuned as this story continues to progress.
