Philadelphia Flyers Mascot Gritty Accused of Punching Kid in the Back

The gigantic orange fuzzball known as Gritty is arguably the most popular mascot in professional sports. However, he's on the wrong side of the news this week.

The Philadelphia Flyers mascot is accused by Chris Greenwell of punching his 13-year-old son, Brandon, in the back during a meeting on Nov. 19.

The Greenwells are season ticket holders, and were invited by the Flyers to an exclusive meet-and-greet with Gritty. After taking a photo, Brandon "playfully patted" Gritty on the head. That's when his father accused Gritty of getting up out of his seat, running towards Brandon, and punching him "as hard as he could" in the back.

Greenwell said he took his son to see a chiropractor a week after the incident, where he was diagnosed with a back bruise.

Comcast Spectator, the owners of the Flyers organization, said there was no video footage of the incident. Both the Flyers' parent company and Greenwell tried to reach an agreement on a settlement, but to no avail.

In fact, Flyers vice president of risk management Laurie Kleinman told Greenwell that Gritty claimed he was "hit in the head repeatedly" during a photoshoot.

As a result, Greenwell filed a complaint with the Philadelphia Police Department, and it is currently under investigation.