Sports

[UPDATED] Eagles Fans, Sports Media Personalities Speculating On Unverified Theory That AJ Brown’s And Jalen Hurt’s Beef Stemmed From Drama Over Massage Therapist Side Chick

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Now that wide receiver AJ Brown has been officially traded to the New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles fans have begun to theorize as to why he wanted out of Philly so bad. One conspiracy theory gaining particular traction on social media involves an alleged love triangle between Brown, Haason Reddick, and a massage therapist, and the actions of Jalen Hurts.

The unverified theory, first shared by X/Twitter user @mansasimba and spreading rapidly in Philadelphia Eagles corners on social media, claims that the cause of AJ Brown’s locker room discontent stems back to 2023.

Conspiracy theory about AJ Brown, Haason Reddick, Jalen Hurts and a massage therapist side chick gaining traction among Philadelphia Eagles fans

According to the account, both Brown and Haason Reddick were allegedly seeing the same massage therapist romantically, although without Brown’s knowledge. A third player — identified in the post as “QB1” and assumed to be Jalen Hurts — reportedly knew about the overlapping relationships but chose not to tell Brown.

Brown allegedly found out that Hurts knew but didn’t say anything and felt betrayed by that action. The source of the theory characterizes Brown as having a sense of “blind loyalty that ultimately serves his own interests” and suggests the situation created lasting tension in the locker room throughout 2023.

“This account is based on information shared with me by sources I trust. People are free to believe it or dismiss it as they see fit,” @mansasimba clarified in his explanation.

In the wake of the theory gaining traction on social media, both Eagles reporters (John McMullen) and former players (LeSean McCoy) have denied its validity.

“There was no hidden reason when the Eagles traded Haason Reddick. It was a contract impasse. He also had the same issue with the same contract with the Jets. People are weird,” McMullen said.

“The [AJ Brown and Haason Reddick] rumors are false,” said McCoy.

Despite these denials, the theory is still being engaged with at various levels of sports fandom — it was discussed on Craig Carton’s New York City radio show on Tuesday and weighed-in on by Barstool Sports’ local Philly sports fan Adam Ferrone, in addition to Eagles fans also noticing that longtime defensive end Brandon Graham liked a post about the rumors on Instagram.

“I can tell you it’s a problem that would splinter any group of men,” Carton also said back in 2024. “It is a real significant problem and it cannot be fixed. I’m not going to say anything more than that. I know what the problem was. I know they’re trying to fix it and I don’t think it can be fixed.”

Comments made by former wide receiver DeSean Jackson — in which he said that Brown’s rift with the Eagles was “60% football, 40% non-football” — also added fuel to the fire.

“It sounds like one of those soap operas, man, where, you know, there’s so much drama,” Jackson said.

“I just think at the end of the day, it’s a lot of pride. I’ll use this analogy: you’re in a relationship with a woman and sometimes you’re prideful, right? You messed up but you don’t want to admit you messed up. I think in that situation, it’s like, sometimes it’s too much to go fix. Sometimes you’re gonna take the high road out, and just be like, ‘I’m not gonna attempt to fix that because I know all the bad things I’ve done. So, I’m not gonna blame the bad on who, I just know it’s been a lot of bad that’s been done and somebody in that scenario was like, ‘Hey, I’m not making an attempt to fix it.'”

Former Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who was with the Eagles in 2022 and 2024, also weighed in on the drama.

“We had all that beef in Philly locker room , sheeeeeesh!!!!!” Johnson tweeted before retweeting a response that said “Crazy we won that championship with all that going on.”

Eagles fans have also interpreted a photo that running back Tank Bigsby posted to Instagram of himself in a session with a massage therapist was an allusion to the rumored drama.

“Not the massage therapist 😂😂,” reads the top comment on the post.

“Ayooo slide 4 😂😂😂😂😂 let’s go. It’s bout to be a hell of a year 🫡 🦅,” another read.

“Eagles RB Tank Bigsby is taking shots at former teammate and new Patriots WR A.J. Brown. 😂🤣😂🤣,” one fan wrote on X/Twitter about the post.

Furthermore, comments made by Skip Bayless earlier this year in which he claimed that the beef between Hurts and Brown stemmed for “off-the-field” issues have also resurfaced.

“This is at the crux of the problem of that locker room. Jalen and A.J. had a serious issue off the field. I tried to defend Jalen on this and I can’t because it was reiterated to me last night. Jalen started it,” Bayless said in early April, while stating that the issue began ‘3 years ago,’ which would be 2023.

“They have completely fallen apart… They had, about three years ago, a personal issue – I’ll just call it that – between the two of them, that was so bad that the fence never quite got mended on A.J.’s part. They did make enough peace with each other that obviously they did win a championship together,” he continued.

“I don’t want to go into the gory details but it was Jalen who started the issue, the beef. They tried to make amends, Jalen apologized, they tried to get back on the same professional page but you know and I know, when something like that happens off the field it never goes completely away. AJ never quite got over it, and never quite got right with it.”

While Reddick was traded to the Jets in 2024, Brown remained discontented and continued to seek a trade away from Philadelphia. Reports indicate that Brown had requested a trade after Week 4 of the 2025 season, at which point the Eagles were 4-0.

Brown’s trade to New England became official on June 1 — the Eagles sent the Pro Bowl pass catcher to the Patriots in exchange for a 2028 first-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick. Philadelphia waiting until after June 1 to execute the trade allowed the team to split Brown’s $43.45 million dead money hit across two seasons rather than absorbing it all in 2026.

Eric Italiano BroBIble avatar
Eric Italiano is a NYC-based writer who spearheads BroBible's Pop Culture and Entertainment content. He covers topics such as Movies, TV, and Video Games, while interviewing actors, directors, and writers.
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