Howard Smith- USA TODAY Sports
Members of the Philadelphia Eagles, take a good, hard look at yourselves.
You’re making a huge stink about a few derogatory words that a mediocre receiver said (while probably intoxicated) at a country music concert. Were they offensive and racist? To most sensible people, yes. Did he mean them? Only Riley Cooper himself knows for certain.
Are some Eagles players overreacting in a hypocritical manner? Absolutely.
Your potential starting quarterback, Michael Vick, was the ringleader of a massive dog-fighting ring. He was sentenced to 23 months in federal prison for his crimes, which included personally drowning and hanging dogs. Fortunately, Vick remained levelheaded, forgiving Cooper for his actions.
His brother Marcus, meanwhile, offered money over Twitter to any opposing player that will “light his a– up”. As if Marcus Vick, who was dismissed from Virginia Tech for stomping on an opposing player, would have any platform to speak from or any money to spend without his successful brother.
Your star running back, LeSean McCoy, encouraged his Twitter followers to harass the mother of his child. He bragged about impregnating her without knowing her name. Yet when McCoy was asked for his opinion on what Cooper said, he stated, “I can’t respect a guy like that”.
Oh, he’s also being sued for allegedly assaulting a woman on a bus.
As punishment, Cooper has been fined an undisclosed amount. He’s also been ordered to attend sensitivity training, a move that was most likely done to save face within the Eagles’ upper echelons. Surely a 25-year-old grown man would know full well the weight his words.
The Eagles are in an incredibly fragile situation. Jeremy Maclin, their no. 2 wide receiver, has been sidelined for the season with an ACL tear. They have no starting quarterback, as it’s currently a three-way race between Nick Foles, Vick, and Matt Barkley. Add a new, unproven coach in Chip Kelly to that mix, and you’ve got the makings of an interesting season.
I’m an Eagles fan myself, as painful as it may be at times. What Cooper said was wrong, but it should not be team-fracturing by any means. After a 4-12 season, the Eagles do not need any distractions, which is exactly what this has become. Everyone in the Eagles organization needs to leave this incident behind them and hold no grudges, lest another season go down the drain.
Andrew Fitzgerald is a Philadelphia Flyers writer for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @awfitz. “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
