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At least admit there's a solid young running back and we'll leave it at that.
The more this plays out, it feels as if this was something personal between Jackson and some part of the staff/upper management. He probably could've squeezed another million, and played in his home state of California. But instead, he goes to Washington to play against Philadelphia twice a year. Although, Washington does have a young offensive nucleus with potential in place so it does make football sense comparatively to Oakland where it seems they are in flux to some extent.
no doubt it was all personal. it was obvious that was the case when that article with no legs to stand on came out. the eagles ed up
desean is going to light that defense up and i can't wait to see it...and yea, he could have gone to oakland for more money but they tried to assissinate his character and you don't do that to a prideful person.
At least admit there's a solid young running back and we'll leave it at that.
Just glad that Bruce got him to a relatively cheap deal (for his talent). Now get a RT, DB and te in the draft
This deal puts Jackson at 14th among WRs in average value per year (less than Garçon in fact), and is structured in such a way that the team can walk away after two years (if need be) with minimal cap repercussions. It looks like Bruce killed it on this
richard sherman's take on d jax:
I’m not going to tell you that DeSean Jackson isn’t in a gang, because I can’t say unequivocally that he isn’t. I can’t tell you whether his friends have done the things police have accused them of doing, because I wasn’t there. I can’t tell you what DeSean does with his time, because we play football on opposite ends of the country. I can only tell you that I believe him to be a good person, and if you think, say or write otherwise without knowing the man, you’re in the wrong.
And if it’s true the Eagles terminated his contract in part because they grew afraid of his alleged “gang ties,” then they did something worse.
I look at those words—gang ties—and I think about all the players I’ve met in the NFL and all of us who come from inner-city neighborhoods like mine in Los Angeles, and I wonder how many of us could honestly say we’re not friends with guys doing the wrong things.
I can’t.
I grew up in Watts, and I played baseball with DeSean in elementary school on a team coached by his father near Inglewood. His father, Bill, picked me up from elementary school 30 minutes away from his home for practice and games because my parents both worked and didn’t finish until later, and I wanted to play baseball with some childhood friends. Bill was a great coach, and a great man. He died of pancreatic cancer in 2009, the summer after his son’s rookie season. DeSean and I didn’t hang out then like we did as kids.
Those men with DeSean in the social pictures and the police reports weren’t his closest friends in childhood, but when his father died and few people were there for him, they were there. When a tragic event like that happens, the people who are around are the people who are around, and they were there for him.
Was DeSean supposed to then say, “Thanks guys, but now that I’m a millionaire, please leave me alone”? Even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t have. In desperate times for people who come from desperate communities, your friends become your family. I wouldn’t expect DeSean to “distance himself” from anybody, as so many people suggest pro athletes ought to do despite having no understanding of what that means. Going to college and playing in the NFL creates a natural distance, but we can’t push people away just because they’re not as successful as us. I can’t change who I grew up with, but what I can do is try to educate them on the right way of doing things, help them when they need it, and try to keep them out of trouble.
There is, of course, a tipping point. There have been times when I realized that someone can’t be helped, because they continue doing the wrong things. Typically, the only time I cut someone off is when they’re in jail, because I can’t help them there.
And if they’re accused of a crime, as DeSean’s friends have been, should that reflect poorly on me? Consider that for every several guys I try to help who end up dead or in jail, there’s another person I was able to rescue from a similar end. Should I give up on everybody out of fear of being dirtied by the media?
Sorry, but I was born in this dirt.
NFL teams understand that. The Seattle Seahawks get it. The Philadelphia Eagles apparently do not.
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. Look at the way many in the media wrote about Jim Irsay after his DUI arrest. Nobody suggested the Colts owner had “ties” to drug trafficking, even though he was caught driving with controlled substances (prescription pills) and $29,000 in cash to do who-knows-what with. Instead, poor millionaire Mr. Irsay needs help, some wrote.
But DeSean Jackson is the menace, right? He’s just as bad as those guys he parties with because he threw up a Crip sign in a picture and he owns a gangsta rap record label. If only all record label owners were held to this standard, somebody might realize that Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg weren’t the bosses behind NWA. Jim Irsay lookalikes in suits were.
But go ahead and judge DeSean for the company he keeps. While you’re at it, judge me, too, because I still live in Los Angeles, and my family does, too. We didn’t run from where we grew up. We aren’t afraid to be associated with the people who came up with us. We brought some our money back and started charities and tried to help out a few guys who were with us when we were nobodies.
I won’t apologize for that, and I suspect neither will DeSean when he’s back on the field doing what he’s always done: grinding through adversity.
damn i love my frat bruh
what i meant is that aside of the qb and rb positions, all the rest is relatively old and or untalented. Considering even the young ones have a lot of red flags, i would really call it an uninspiring offense. Especially the oline really sucked last year.. They just got a a lot better though.
Garçon is like 27 and just entering his prime. Reed was leading the leage in rookie receptions at one point last year before concussions slowed him down so he has potential to be a beast if he can stay healthy. Roberts is underrated and was in the shadows of Fitzgerald and Floyd but he balled when he had the chance. Also young. There are still some red flags you're right and the line does blow but there is some reason for optimism if knee can return to 2012 form and reed can stay healthy.
That defense tho...
damn thats way less than i thought... surprised oakland didnt just call the agent and said they'll give a 4th/5th year
grats lincoln. the guarantee doesn't mean much, i doubt they were gna cut him after 1 season anyway
Last edited by spurraider21; 04-02-2014 at 10:54 AM.
I did like Sherman's take on Jackson and Irsay. I didn't care for his take on Cooper. A word will never be as bad as actual crimes. Uttering a word in private will never be as bad as throwing up gang signs when you score a touchdown. It's not like Cooper would do a noose sign every time he beat a black corner for a first down.
I think Sherman's right that people need to stop wanting to police the social lives of athletes who haven't done anything to show they're untrustworthy. Sure, there are times that hanging out with criminal friends ends up hurting biting you in the hand (like with Lewis). But guilt by association is a silly concept.
The Eagles look dumber by the minute over this.
Seems to me they could have at least traded him
Ian Rapoport @RapSheet
DeSean Jackson’s contract is a 4-year, $32M deal that voids to 3 years, $24M. $5M signing bonus. $8M avg per year. $4.25M ’14 cap number.
agreed, Jackson hasn't done vs Dallas anyway
True actual crimes are a higher scorn than words being said--but in the comparison between Cooper and Jackson, shouting Ni#$er in public and challenging physical altercation is worse than being guilty by association. Riley got off with a slap and a fine while Jackson got jettisoned. The Eagles look the fool in this case whereas they could've traded DJ for something worthwhile instead of seeing him take his talents south across the Potomac. I've seen the supposed gang signs and they're no worse than what Derrick Rose throws up or is accused of soliciting. I agree with the majority of what you're saying; I don't think, though, that there is a fair way of how the Eagles fared between the NJ column on DJax and the Cooper situation.
There's no crime in being racist. There's especially none in using the N word. My problem with Sherman's argument is that he's equating being racist to being a gangster. ('You cut a guy because you THINK he has gang ties while you keep a KNOWN racist?') If the Eagles believed Jackson was into secret criminal activity, there's no way that that is equal to anything Cooper is suspected of doing.
But as I said, I agree with Sherman. Jackson hasn't done anything remotely criminal. Football players aren't machines. They are people who value their friends, families and history, and they'll stick with their people over cutting out those they care about in order to be a role model to some kid they've never even met. If anything, their loyalty to their neighborhoods and efforts to fix their home communities should be lauded.
Neither Jackson nor Cooper should have been reprimanded for anything revealed by the media. But let's be real here: The Eagles were going to cut Jackson anyway. He didn't get along with Kelly. If anything, they used this as an excuse.
they're even dumber then for thinking they need an excuse to cut him.
Especially that excuse.
They sort of did. That whole, "Jerk in the locker room" thing doesn't fly well with fans, and the "He doesn't fit" thing Ashley Fox is trying to push at ESPN seems silly after the year he had.
Disagree. Possibly committing a crime isn't the crux of the issue. You don't have to commit a crime to be fired/cut by your employer. Would you have a job today if you yelled what Cooper did to your employer (or they were aware)?
Furthermore, possible association with gangs isn't a crime either. It may look bad - but it's not a crime. , the mayor of my city is on film smoking crack with crack dealers (one that has been murdered since) and he's still running around.
There's no difference at all between Cooper and Jackson imo. And overall it just seems like a dumb personnel move altogether.
Cooper didn't yell anything to his employer. He yelled it at a concert that someone happened to be recording. I would be very upset if I were fired for saying something during my time off that some people may interpret as offensive even though it wasn't even directed at them.
And being associated with gangs isn't a crime. I've been saying that. I said that being accused of being a gangster is much more severe than being accused of being racist.
I agree it's a dumb personnel move. I don't see it as hypocritical in light of their handling of Cooper's situation however. I also don't think the gang allegations had anything to do with Jackson's release.
im still surprised that the contract is that friendly.... thought it would be worse
Cooper was caught yelling racial slurs that someone happened to record, upload for the entire world to see, including his employer. Just like the commuications director who tweeted she hope she doesn't gets AIDS from going to Africa. That wasn't a crime either - but she got fired swiftly.
Again, I'm just saying being accused of being racist and being accused of being a criminal (or more accurately, associated with criminals) is really not different nowadays if we're talking about the reactions of employers. You'll get fired all the same - if my company saw me on video yelling racial slurs, it went public and people knew I was from that company, I would get canned. Whether or not you think being associated with criminals is generally worse than being racist (debateable) is for me a sperate issue. Cooper yelled "n*****r" and he works in a room full of black people; you'd think the Eagles would have low-risk tolerance to potential repurcussions based on their reaction to DeSean Jackson.
First off I think associated with criminals < being caught saying something racist < being an actual criminal. So I agree Jackson's associations would be a terrible reason to cut him, but if they believed him to be an actual criminal (I don't think they do), then it would be worse than being racist. Mind everyone that saying the N word doesn't make someone racist, so if anything, Cooper is guilty by association with the word.
Secondly, what I think people should be allowed to be fired for and what they can realistically end up fired for can be (and usually are) divergent things. I don't think that Twitter woman should have been fired for her comments; I don't think Don Imus should have been fired for his nappy-headed hoes comment. The fact that they were doesn't mean I have to think it's right.
Not defending Cooper's actions, but he is in a work environment that not only uses the N-word regularly, but freely without any consequence. He works with men of color on a regular basis and that word is thrown around all the time. To say a guy caught saying that is a racist when he's never had an issue with any teammate of color and when he works in an environment that is the majority black is way more assumptive than a guy throwing up gang signs and taking pictures with accused murderers.
Sherman isn't for the cause of people - he's for the cause of "his" people as evidenced by the racist comment.
Last edited by DPG21920; 04-02-2014 at 03:42 PM.
Put it this way, I highly doubt Sherman would use the same logic with Cooper as he does with Jackson under this scenario:
Cooper is never caught saying anything racial and has no other such problems. But, when he makes a big catch, instead of throwing up a gang sign, he does the Nazi salute. Then after the game, despite never doing anything himself that is known, poses for pictures with people accused of racially charged crimes. Then he funds and country record label called KKountry MusiK.
Sherman is biased. But he's clearly very intelligent for a football player. While I think he is being somewhat hypocritical, I think he is articulately addressing some major issues with society's handling of race relations.
lol, using racial slurs in everyday life is not as uncommon as people are making it sound, especially for an NFL player... the cooper thing was blown so far out of proportion
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