May 28, 2015
Earlier this month, LeSean McCoy said in an interview with ESPN that Chip Kelly got rid of all the good black players. For quick reference, here were McCoy's words:
"The relationship was never really great. I feel like I always respected him as a coach. I think that's the way he runs his team. He wants the full control. You see how fast he got rid of all the good players. Especially all the good black players. He got rid of them the fastest. That's the truth. There's a reason. ... It's hard to explain with him. But there's a reason he got rid of all the black players -- the good ones -- like that.
Today, Kelly spoke for the first time since McCoy strongly suggested that he is racist. It was classic "Philosophical Chip"
However, while chasing perception of the outside world may not be important, it sure as hell is important in the locker room. When a reporter noted that to Kelly, his response was simple -- Talk to the players.
The player who replaced McCoy, DeMarco Murray, said he was unfamiliar with McCoy's comments. When he was told that McCoy said that Chip got rid of all the good black players, Murray looked around and remarked, “Look around. There are a lot of us out here.”
Jason Kelce thought McCoy might ultimately regret what he said. "I think that obviously LeSean may be speaking a little bit out of emotion there," said Kelce. "I respect LeSean McCoy and I’ve played with him for a lot of years, but comments like that really don’t warrant a response."
Kelly said that he hadn't addressed the locker room about McCoy's comments. Nor should he. He did, however, try to reach out to McCoy himself.
"I reached out to him twice, and he didn't accept my call, and then I talked to his agent and told him I'd love to talk to him at some point in time, but I haven't had a chance to touch base with him."
Stop dancing, Shady.
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