For six seasons the Philadelphia Eagles basked in the glow of DeSean Jackson. The franchise embraced its star receiver. It tagged him as its franchise player two years ago. Last season he rewarded the Eagles with a Pro Bowl season, catching 82 passes for 1,332 yards.
Then last week, with Jackson set to take up a sizable piece of the Eagles’ salary cap this season, they cut him.
Fine. That’s business. But instead of saying that they could not afford him, or that he did not fit into Coach Chip Kelly’s system, the Eagles leaked the ugly narrative that their onetime prince had “character issues.”
The Eagles released Jackson after NJ.com, citing unidentified sources in the Eagles organization, raised concerns about his attitude and emphasized its reports about his connections to reputed street gang members. The Eagles then allowed the public perception to spread that Jackson, their explosive franchise player, was some sort of uncoachable gang lord, and that team officials were cutting ties with him to preserve the good name of the organization.
Please.
The Eagles did not have character issues with Kelly after the NCAA stripped Oregon, his former team, of a scholarship for two seasons and placed the program on probation for three years for violations committed when he coached the Ducks.
The Eagles did not cut ties with Riley Cooper after he was caught on camera angrily using a racial slur toward a security guard at a concert. Cooper, after receiving a slap on the wrist, was welcomed back and embraced by Kelly and a fair amount of Eagles fans who cheered his first reception. He agreed to a five-year contract extension in February.
Cooper stays. But Jackson - the prince turned gang lord - had to go. Fortunately for Jackson, not every team believed the story line: On Tuesday night the Washington Redskins signed Jackson to a three year contract.
The NJ.com article that led to his release by the Eagles reported that Jackson’s gang connections involved one of his friends in Los Angeles who is said to be a member of the Crips there and in 2010 was charged with a murder. But the article noted that the friend was acquitted of the murder and of a related gun charge, and a police official told the website that Jackson “was not part of the case.”
Another incident involved a murder that occurred in 2012 outside a building that was owned or leased by a member of Jackson’s family. Again, the police official told NJ.com that Jackson was never considered a suspect in the case.
Jackson is not a saint. He is rambunctious and has, on occasion, exhibited poor judgment. In 2009 he was pulled over for having illegally tinted windows and was found to have marijuana in the car. In 2011 he held out of training camp, unhappy about the Eagles’ unwillingness to give him a new contract.
The Eagles knew about all of this, and a year later they still signed Jackson to a five-year contract potentially worth $51 million.
Washington’s signing of Jackson so quickly after he was dropped by Philadelphia proves that the Redskins had no concerns about his character or that his talent trumped them. Or maybe both.
There were clearly personality clashes between Jackson and Kelly, according to reporters who cover the Eagles, and maybe that was the reason Jackson had to go. That’s the business of pro sports.
But this was a disgraceful way for a franchise to attempt to cover its back while releasing its best player. The Eagles insulted the intelligence of many fans and relied on the bigotry of others to sell the narrative of a young black player’s suspected gang affiliation to rationalize cutting him.
I suspect that Kelly, like so many delusional football coaches, may truly feel his system is so ethereal, so ingenious, that he can fill it with a gaggle of Riley Coopers and reach the Super Bowl; that he can hand the reins to Nick Foles, who replaced the departed Michael Vick.
(By the way, the Eagles had no problem embracing Vick after he served a prison term - when they could get him for a song.)
The Eagles have not won an NFL championship since 1960. Now they have removed an important piece, opting instead to rely on Foles and on Cooper and on Kelly’s genius.
Good luck with that.
Jackson will try to win one with Robert Griffin III in Washington. But first he tried to set the record straight, saying in a statement after his release: “I would like to make it very clear that I am not and never have been part of any gang. I am not a gang member, and to speculate and assume that I am involved in such activity off the field is reckless and irresponsible.”
Things worked out for Jackson - this time. He will get his money, play with one of the brightest young quarterbacks in the league and have at least two opportunities this season to torment his former team.
But if Jackson is wise - and there is some question about this - he will take the events of the past two weeks as a warning from the universe that he had better watch his step.
Sports, Pages 20 on 04/04/2014