LeSean McCoy says he can't respect teammate Riley Cooper
LeSean McCoy is the first Eagles player to publicly criticize teammate Riley Cooper. (Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
Michael Vick forgave Eagles teammate Riley Cooper for his use of a racial slur that released on video Wednesday. Another Eagles teammate isn't ready for that.
LeSean McCoy told NFL.com's Albert Breer that Cooper's actions made him feel like he was "losing a friend" and that he can't respect his teammate.
Cooper apologized Wednesday soon after Crossing Broad posted a video of him directing a racial epithet at security guards keeping him from going backstage during a June 9 Kenny Chesney concert at Lincoln Financial Field.
Here’s a link to the video of the incident. (Warning: Video contains explicit language.)
Soon after Cooper addressed his Eagles teammates, Vick told the Los Angeles Times that the Eagles have forgiven Cooper and are ready to move on. From the Times:
"I just spoke to Riley inside the bubble during the walk-through for about 15 minutes," Vick said. "[Coach Chip Kelly] allowed me to say a few words to the team. He allowed all of us to have open dialogue for five minutes on how we wanted to move forward. I think we cleared the air. We all have an understanding that the most important thing for this football team is to move forward as of right now."
"He apologized for what he did, and as a team we understood," Vick said. "We all make mistakes in life and we all do and say things that maybe we do mean or we don't mean. But as a teammate, I forgave him."
After fining Cooper an undisclosed amount, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie said in a statement that the team was ”shocked and appalled” by Cooper’s words and that “sort of behavior or attitude from anyone has no role in a civil society.”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said on ESPN Radio Thursday morning that the league will not take action against Cooper in light of the Eagles' discipline. Goodell called the comments “obviously wrong and they’re insensitive and they’re unacceptable.”
