Banner flies over Eagles practice; 'waste of money,' Johnson says

PHILADELPHIA -- Sunday was a banner day for the Eagles' rivalry with the Dallas Cowboys.

As the Eagles prepared for a training camp practice at Lincoln Financial Field, a small plane towing a banner flew over the stadium. The banner, financed by Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy and fans, read, "WE STILL DEM BOYZ!!!! #SACKSCOMIN."

A familiar chant went up from the over 40,000 Eagles fans in attendance at the free practice: "Dallas sucks! Dallas sucks!"

Hardy got involved after Cowboys fans started a GoFundMe.com campaign to raise funds. He donated $300 to the fund.

The stunt was in retaliation for a banner created by Eagles fans to fly over a Cowboys practice. That banner was to read, "WE'VE GOT DEMARCO" -- a reference to the Eagles' free-agent signing of former Dallas running back DeMarco Murray.

"A waste of money," Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson said of Hardy's gesture. "I think he's a hothead and gets carried away with himself. He's going to have his hands full with 71, I promise you that."

Eagles Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters wears No. 71.

"Oh, yeah, that was interesting," Eagles outside linebacker Connor Barwin said. "I had heard rumors about that. Obviously, it doesn't really mean anything at all. But we'll be ready when we play them Week 2."

The Eagles host the Cowboys on Sept. 20. There won't be an opportunity then to react to Hardy's prank, however. Hardy will be suspended for the first four games of the Cowboys' season. The suspension, stemming from a 2014 domestic violence incident, was reduced from 10 games to four games by arbitrator Harold Henderson.

Hardy will be eligible to play when the Eagles travel to Dallas on Nov. 8 for a Sunday night game against the Cowboys. The roof of AT&T Stadium will prevent any planes from being noticed by the players during the game.