The Philadelphia Eagles cut their best receiver last week, then watched him sign a new deal with a division rival.
Why exactly Chip Kelly believed he couldn't move forward with DeSean Jackson is unclear, but Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman is bothered by the possibility that Jackson's alleged gang ties played a prominent role in his exit from Philly.
Sherman grew up with Jackson in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, and he wrote Wednesday at TheMMQB.com that it's unfair to judge professional athletes who don't sever ties with friends who knew them before they made it. Sherman also wondered why the Eagles dumped Jackson, but kept Riley Cooper after video surfaced of the wideout hurling a racial epithet at a Kenny Chesney concert.
"The Seattle Seahawks get it. The Philadelphia Eagles apparently do not," Sherman wrote in the piece, published Wednesday. "This offseason they re-signed a player who was caught on video screaming, 'I will fight every n---- here.' He was representing the Philadelphia Eagles when he said it, because, of course, everything we do is reflective of the organization.
"But what did they do to Riley Cooper, who, if he's not a racist, at least has 'ties' to racist activity? They fined him and sent him to counseling. No suspension necessary for Cooper and no punishment from the NFL, despite its new interest in policing our use of the N-word on the field. Riley instead got a few days off from training camp and a nice contract in the offseason, too."
"Commit certain crimes in this league and be a certain color, and you get help, not scorn."
The Eagles left the door wide open for speculation when they released Jackson with a short statement and no other information. If Sherman is accurately connecting the dots, his point is easy to understand.
In the latest edition of the "Around The League Podcast" the guys do the news, open the mailbag and play "Win Wess' Toaster."
