Roger Goodell: NFL will not take action against Eagles' Riley Cooper
Roger Goodell said Thursday that the league will not take action against Riley Cooper. (Bloomberg/Getty Images)
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said on ESPN Radio Thursday morning that the league will not take action against the Philadelphia Eagles' Riley Cooper after footage surfaced this week of the wide receiver using a racial slur while at a Kenny Chesney concert.
Audio of Goodell's interview was not immediately available but excerpts were captured by several media outlets.
Goodell, who called the comments "obviously wrong and they’re insensitive and they’re unacceptable," said the reason for not handing down a punishment to Cooper is that the Eagles already dealt with the issue internally, via NBC Sports:
“We do not penalize at the club level and league level for same incident: We will not be taking action separately from the club.”
The Eagles fined Cooper on Wednesday and will require him to go through "training." Cooper issued a series of tweets to apologize and held a press conference to express his regret for the incident.
SI Wire: Michael Vick: Eagles have forgiven Riley Cooper
When asked in the radio interview Thursday to explain how the league could deem Cooper's comments as wrong and insensitive but not take objection to the continued use of the Redskins football team name, Goodell said he doesn't see a link between the two, according to NBC Sports:
"I don’t see a comparison. That’s a name that has always represented pride, heritage, tradition; the things that, I think, have made Redskins fans so proud of that name. And they have always presented the Redskins in a positive light. We have to continue to be open and continue to listen, but we also want to make sure we’re doing what’s right to encourage that heritage and that pride we have in the Redskins name."
Chesney spoke with ESPN's LZ Granderson about the incident:
"To judge an entire audience by one loud mouth isn't fair ... not to the NFL, not to the city of Philadelphia and that awesome crowd, not to my band and crew and certainly not to me, who believes music is about bringing people together for friendship and forgetting about the things in life that bring you down. The music I make is about living life, loving life and loving everybody -- no matter who they are. That's how I was raised, and what someone else does or says doesn't reflect who I am or what my fans stand for."
https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/362937492959281152
https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/362938327353139201
Cooper's apology:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4VOGiZCuBo
