The Philadelphia Eagles fired a game-day employee for posting a Facebook ripping the team for letting safety Brian Dawkins go in free agency, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported Monday.

The newspaper reported that Dan Leone, who worked as a gate chief, was fired days after posting on his Facebook page: "Dan is [expletive] devastated about Dawkins signing with Denver ... Dam Eagles R Retarted!!"

The posting was in response to Dawkins' signing with the Denver Broncos, the Inquirer reported.

Leone said he regrets the posting and deleted the comment, the newspaper reported.

"I shouldn't have put it up there," Leone said, the Inquirer reported. "I was ticked off, and I let my emotions go, but I didn't offend any one person or target a specific individual. I was just upset that we lost such a great guy. Dawkins was one of my favorite players."

Leone said he had intended to apologize to his boss in person but was fired over the phone, the newspaper reported.

"I apologized for it," Leone said, the newspaper reported. "I apologized 20 million times. I never bad-mouthed the organization before. I made one mistake and they terminate me? And they couldn't even bring me into the office to talk to me? They had to do it over the phone? At least look me in the eye. To get done dirty like this, I can't believe it. I'm devastated."

What adds to the drama of the story is that Leone suffers from a disease called transverse myelitis, which causes muscle fatigue, the newspaper reported.

The Eagles said Leone was a "seasonal game-day employee" but didn't comment further, the Inquirer reported.

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