DeSean Jackson: Wednesday Update
The sun went down on Wednesday and receiver DeSean Jackson was still employed by the Philadelphia Eagles, still not suspended, and still, none of his teammates have spoken out against his anti-Semitic remarks that came to light earlier in the week.
What did happen with Jackson on Wednesday?
Well, there was a tweeted video of him and running back Miles Sanders working out together in Tampa, Fla.
There was a written letter addressed to Jackson that turned up on social media written by a Holocaust survivor named Dr. Edward Mosberg inviting Jackson to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau in order to “educate” himself.
There were no further apologies. Two are good enough, apparently.
In case you missed the second one, coming on the heels of his first apology post in an Instagram video, the second one, released Tuesday night, went like this:
DeSean Jackon's second apology
USA Today
Also on Wednesday, former NBA player Stephen Jackson released a video on his Instagram account, saying Jackson was “speaking the truth.”
In the video, Jackson said, “"But y'all don't want us to educate ourselves. If it's talking about the Black race, y'all ain't saying nothing about it. They killing us, police killing us and treating us like s---, racism at an all-time high, but ain't none of you NFL owners spoke up on that, ain't none of you teams spoke up on that.”
Jackson referenced Riley Cooper, a former Eagles receiver, who is white and used the N-word in a video that surfaced in the summer of 2013. Cooper was fined and sent to sensitivity training but was allowed to remain on the team, which he did for three more years.
“The same team had a receiver (Cooper) who said the word n----- publicly! They gave him an extension! I play for the Big3. We have a Jewish owner. He understands where we stand and some of the things we say, but it's not directed to him. It's the way we've been treated.
"So I just read a statement that the Philadelphia Eagles posted regarding DeSean Jackson's comments. He was trying to educate himself, educate people, and he's speaking the truth. Right? He's speaking the truth. You know he don't hate nobody, but he's speaking the truth of the facts that he knows and trying to educate others."
Jackson’s comments were in direct contrast to that of former Eagles defensive end Chris Long, who called Jackson’s comments “a f---ing disaster” and said, “it’s f---ed up unequivocally,” on his Green Light podcast.
Long also said, “Just like with Drew Brees, I don’t get to decide when his apology or his learning process on this thing is complete. All I know is that he talked bad about Jewish people, and somehow managed to use a fake Hitler quote doing it.”
Long also referenced Cooper, saying, “I’m not going to do the thing where we say, ‘Riley Cooper didn’t get cut, why should DeSean?’
“I’m not asking for a certain type of punishment for DeSean. I’m not saying he should get cut. Riley didn’t get cut for saying what he said, and I’m not equating the two, but that’s the thing that I’ve been seeing everyone whatabout-ing today.”
What we didn’t see on Wednesday regarding Jackson was none of his teammates speaking up on the Eagles, or even a former teammate like Malcolm Jenkins, who works for CNN and was quick to voice his displeasure with Brees when the Saints quarterback came under fire for his comments last month about protesting during the National Anthem.
What we know I Jackson apologized to Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman on Tuesday, both of whom are Jewish, and the Eagles released a statement that said they were “continuing to evaluate the circumstances and will take appropriate action.”
Perhaps the evaluation is complete.
Or maybe they are still evaluating after it was reported that they want Jackson to be more active to promote equality, and he visited with a Philadelphia-area Rabbi on Tuesday.
Either way, the Eagles were silent on Wednesday, though the story had plenty of developments.
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