What the hell is going on in Philadelphia?
Chip Kelly is 51 years old. He’s been around football a long time. He’s coached in high school, college and now the pros. I’m pretty sure if he’s a racist, we would have heard of it long ago. But apparently he hates black people, allegedly.
We keep hearing rumblings, from disgruntled former Eagles players mind you, that Philadelphia head football coach has a preference for white players. LeSean McCoy, no longer with the team, hinted it was no coincidence Kelly “got rid of all the black players.” And of course, never one to shy away from a woefully irrelevant conversation on race, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith jumped on the bandwagon and proclaimed that Kelly’s reasons to get rid of McCoy, Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson (all black) and keep Riley Cooper (a white player who once had a moment he wishes he could have back) hinted of racism.
I’ve never met Chip Kelly. While I acknowledge that racism is alive and well in this country, I find it hard to believe that any coach in the NFL, a league comprised of primarily African-American athletes, could hide a lifetime of inner hatred and resentment towards black people. If so, they’re in the wrong damn business.
Kelly came out and finally addressed these accusations, saying he’s not a racist and that he essentially could care less about what others thought of him.
I have no idea whether or not Kelly is a racist. I find it hard to believe that with so many years in football, these accusations are only popping up now. One would think after McCoy’s and Smith’s accusations surfaced, a former black player from Oregon would step into the mix and say “Hey, I once had a problem with Kelly as well.” That hasn’t happened.
Kelly’s got enough problems with Sam Bradford, Mark Sanchez, Tim Tebow and Matt Barkley as his quarterback options. With those four behind center, the poor guy needs a time machine, not a playbook. No wonder he wanted to draft Marcus Mariota.
Calling someone a racist because you’re upset about being fired is pretty juvenile in this day and age. It’s a stigma that can stick regardless of whether it’s true or not. One thing is for sure. The Eagles aren’t winning a Super Bowl with only white players on their roster. They’re not winning one with disgruntled players on their roster either.
What the hell is going on in Qatar?
I pay attention to soccer about four times a year, mostly when the World Cup rolls around.
I know a few of you (very few) get dolled up in your soccer jerseys, head out to the local pubs for a pint and catch your premier league games, openly discussing your healthy man-crush on Ronaldo. That’s perfectly understandable. He’s a good looking dude with fabulous hair.
But recently soccer made news for all the wrong reasons. And neither the casual nor the fringe soccer fan was in the least bit surprised.
I don’t need 60 Minutes to tell me there’s been corruption in FIFA. As we’ve discussed in the past, you can add that to any number of sports institutions that have corruption in their bio: Cycling, Major League Baseball, the USOC, professional boxing, UFC, the NFL, the NBA… the rap sheet is a lengthy read.
But awarding a World Cup to a country that nobody can pinpoint on a map is an indication that something is seriously wrong. Did they think nobody would notice? I know we don’t watch soccer but that’s like trying to walk out of Best Buy with a brand new flat screen under your arm and hoping nobody would say anything.
As soon as we heard that Qatar was getting a World Cup, well. We all knew money drove these decisions… but Qatar? Do they even have a soccer team? Have you ever heard anybody rave about that romantic summer they spent in Qatar? More people vacation in Cleveland.
I could bore you with details about paid off whom but I’m not going to waste my time or yours trying to figure out whose pockets were lined with the $150 million dollars of pay-off money. The bottom line is that things happened that shouldn’t have. And they continue to. In 2022, the World Cup will take place in a country that no one will visit. And the rich will get richer.
And again, most of us will only watch every four years, perhaps wondering whether we got into the wrong business. Clearly managing soccer provides one with a fairly healthy living.
What the hell is going on in Minnesota?
Nothing pisses a fan off more than hearing an athlete complain about how little he’s getting paid. We can deal with spousal abuse, womanizing, partying too hard, drug addictions, drinking and driving, gun wielding and even rampant stupidity but to hear an athlete who’s making millions of dollars suggest he’s “not getting paid” just sounds ungrateful.
Add Adrian Peterson to the list of athletes who just did so and should probably delete their Twitter account as a result. Recently, the star running back turned Tweeter-extraordinaire got a hair up his ass and took to the internet to let us know how he really felt about his contract.
Big mistake!
One of these days athletes will learn that a keyboard can tackle harder than your average linebacker. Peterson is coming off recent reinstatement after being suspended for beating his kid so public opinion was already against the guy. And now we’re supposed to feel sorry for his not getting paid? Boo fucking hoo!
Not long, I wrote that, as an NFL franchise, you’d want this guy on your squad when he comes back from league suspension. Now I’m not so sure.
Back in the day, I never really had much of a problem with Patrick Ewing. I almost felt sorry for him, the best big man to never win an NBA championship, always a bridesmaid but never a bride. But Patrick once dropped a “How am I supposed to feed my kids” comment on us and that was that.
Struggling to make ends meet? Don’t become a professional athlete. Those guys can barely get by.
AD, listen, buddy. Nobody likes you to begin with. You beat your kid with a stick. Try laying low for a while and shutting the fuck up. We don’t want to hear about how you are underpaid. You’re lucky you’re not in prison.
While I agree that NFL players not getting guaranteed contracts is a raw deal, talk to the union reps and work something out. Just do so behind closed doors with an attorney present and give your Twitter account a rest.
Chip Kelly is now in charge of the Eagles draft. His top six picks in the 2015 NFL Draft were all black athletes. He selected one white player with his 7th pick… Yep, he’s a racist all right… Maybe he just wants his own players and not some disgruntled Andy Reid protégé…
They need to blow up FIFA…
I suppose the Vikings are now considered racist too… All of this racial BS is just plain sickening… I sure hope the people in politics who keep stirring this pot are happy because they’re about the only ones who are…
Chip Kelly couldn’t coach his way out of a wet paper bag . His teams in the NFL don’t know how to play defense but yet dumb @sses believe him to be a great coach ? What a load of bull#hit . He’s better suited to the college and the idiocy that goes on there and specifically in the PAC 12 .
AD is looking for his next gig elsewhere because he knows the Vikings aren’t built to win this season. Not with that team and coaching staff. ‘nough said . The only person he (Peterson) now intimidates are his baby mama and young son.
I don’t know why people like Steven A Smith keep saying Chip got rid of Maclin. He signed elsewhere for a ton of money. It’s not like he was cut. That leaves Desean and McCoy. Shady was replaced by a black running back who fits Kelly’s system better. The release of Jackson still bugs me, but I think it had a hell of a lot more to do with his attitude than the color of his skin. He’s a “me first” kind of guy, but I wish they would have kept him. That speed and what it can do to soften a defense is tough to replace.
Perhaps Chip’s ego is part of the reason for the moves, but not racism.
Dwin…
Andy Reid certainly wasn’t a racist. He liked all donuts the same.
Blowing up FIFA would be a good start. But then what? Promote Al to run the sport? Maybe they should just put Isiah in charge.
Racism will exist as long as differences exist. Unfortunately. I definitely don’t suggest putting Al in charge of that.
Although there would be some good pictures.
If you want to know something disturbing about the fact of Qatar being awarded the World Cup for 2022 . Consider the fact over 1,000 construction workers have already died in the building of the venues . How is that is not being more widely reported on by the press ? I guess money talks and bull#hit walks and nobody is none the wiser , especially fans who fleetingly show a passing interest in the game at the time of the World Cup (Men’s and Women’s ) . More than half of the deaths have been caused due to unsafe practices on the building sites and the very fact the Qatar government and FIFA want the venues finished way ahead of schedule .
Nepalese construction workers were not being allowed to return home during the recent natural disasters that took place in their homeland , to aid in the humanitarian efforts or to verify if they still had family members alive . Something FIFA President Sepp Blatter refuts but it has been well-documented by various NGO’s and human rights’ agencies .
Chris , let me pose this question . If the US Justice Dept deems it fit to raid a sports’ marketing firm in Miami seeking evidence of bribery and corruption by FIFA executives who did business with that concern ? Then how the f#ck is it, they couldn’t have used the same zeal to go after so many Wall St executives who literally fu$ked up the financial system in the US ? I guess the hypocrisy of Barack Obama was well founded when he made mention when he made the statement about the “fat cat bankers ” on Wall St . The very same bankers who have bankrolled his two Presidential campaigns . Rhetoric and pragmatism from an @hole President and his administration .
Blowing up FIFA ? What planet are you living on ? FIFA President Sepp Blatter was just reelected President of soccer’s international governing body and the executives in doing so have simply given him even greater latitude . LOL,LOL,LOL !!! Blowing up FIFA ___ that really is a good one . I hear the US Justice Dept is now willing to look at the transparency of the actions the NCAA , NFL and MLB ? Not going to happen there either .
Do you know what LeSean McCoy, Stephen A. Smith, and Tophatal all have in common? They are nonsensical blow who love to string together loosely-related facts and twist them into whatever fucked-up narrative happens to be floating around in their heads that day.
It’s better in the case of Tophatal, who is obviously one of those guys who has lined the walls of his house with aluminum foil so Comcast can’t use the mind-control rays they hide in Leave it to Beaver reruns. Worse yet, the guy will reply to this telling it actually DirectTV that does that. The point is the guy is 40 gallons of banana juice.
Chump is too nice of a guy to say this, but nobody reads your looney -ass comments anymore, Al. At first, you were simply comical. Then you became nutty. Then you became tragic when it became clear you didn’t get nobody cares about the shit you say. That’s why now you’ve just become Stephen A. Smith-level annoying. That’s also why I wish you would drink a gallon of gasoline and fire a flare gun up your own ass.
Strong post SC! Well written & thought out. Another interesting & thought provoking read. Nicely done sir. Proud of you.
Dawk…
If Kelly is eventually run out of town, it’ll be for losing games with a spread offense more so than because of any racist allegations.
More than anything, I’m interested in seeing how he uses DeMarco Murray this year.
FYI, here are your odds to win the NFC EAST
DALLAS COWBOYS +110
NEW YORK GIANTS +335
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES +165
WASHINGTON REDSKINS +1601
Al…
Sounds like they’re building the Brooklyn Bridge. And you and I both know the US gov’t’s priorities are out of whack. Heck, they spent all that money going after steroid users in baseball and couldn’t prove a goddamned thing.
Waste of time.
Dub…
Does anybody have a flare gun?
Careful next series Chris. Patrick Kane can break you heart.
Why I don’t visit Al’s site any more? Regardless of the fact that he’s a “knock artist”, his slandering of Pope Francis is outta line. The man courageously visited the bowels of South America with little fear. Besides, he expects me to believe that Nelson Mandela was celibate during his 2+ decades of incarceration.
I try to visit Al’s site as much as possible, Bets. I just try to subscribe to as many as possible so sometimes I get a little behind.
Be careful in the next series? So you’re now you’re suggesting I should hedge the bet? I’ll have a piece asking readers what to do soon.
But you said life-changing money, he he.
I’m still trying to understand the link between FIFA and Wall Streeters.
I’m guessing the answer is money, Mark.
Dwindy’s comment just made the “charges” of Chip Kelly’s alleged racism about as believable as an Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson statement on race. Pulling the race card is getting so ridiculous these days that any perceived slight to anyone of color, transgender or WTF-ever these overly sensitive asswipes are looking to be “offended” by is akin to the boy who cried wolf.
…Wait, is using the term boy a problem in this analogy?
WhoTF knows or cares anymore in the PC prison we’re living in.
FIFA? What’s that?
AP….This entitled idiot goes Roots on his kid, now blames the Vikings for not letting him do whatever the fuck he wants to?
Dude signed a contract and now that he broke behavioral provisions and the team supposedly didn’t stand behind him during his tribulations, he wants out?
Yo Adrian…
If long term contracts are the issue, why did you sign it to begin with?
Hows about all athletes start going year to year contracts instead?
Think you’d like that? I highly doubt it. You just want things both ways.
Someone needs to take a switch to AP’s backside like J-Dub just did Al.
Here in Philly lots of us first and foremost think Kelly has lost his mind trying to prove how smart he is with his new found power. The big concern is he is full on drunk with decision-making..but not a racist. That’s absurd. The only reason this has any remaining traction still here is not because of Smith (no one ever cares what he says) or McCoy (bitter at banishment to Buffalo for not buying in) but rather the combo of Riley Cooper keeping his job after his viral incident combined with more recent words from former Eagles star player and coach Tre Thomas who volunteered info of a Kelly locker room that has discussed race previously…
“One of the things that you’re seeing right now, and these are the things that you have heard from the locker room from different players is that … they feel like there is a hint of racism. I personally … when you put that tag on someone, you gotta be careful with that, but there are some of the players that kind feel like that’s what it is. Especially when there was a report that came out last year that the Eagles were one of the whitest teams in the NFL. So you start to see the culture of the team change extremely quickly, when Coach Kelly takes over.”
When queried about the fact Kelly has seven black coaches…
“Yeah you have seven assistant black coaches but only one black coach is over the segment. The other guys are assistants to the assistant coaches. Duce Staley is the only guy that’s head over his segment who is gonna be in charge of his group. The other guys are just assistants to an assistant coach.”
Thomas was on the Eagles staff the past two years before his contract expired following the 2014 season. The team did not renew his deal. Maybe he’s bitter also. But Tre was held in high esteem around these parts as a player. Hey, if Chip cut Cooper on the spot I guarantee none of this racist chatter sees the light of day.
As for Qatar, scheduling any outdoor sporting event on the equivalent of the Sun inherently requires the firing of everyone responsible.
Ooooh, Bleed.
That’s gonna leave a mark.
I’m waiting for the first person to say something insensitive about Bruce Jenner and be socially outcast.
You know it’s only a matter of time.
Burnsy…
Thanks for shedding some light on what’s going on in Philly.
And re: the hot weather, as you know, I live in Tampa. During the day, we walk from our air-conditioned homes to our air-conditioned cars to our air-conditioned places of business.
The only time we spend outside, if we can help it, is in the ocean, gulf or pool with a frozen cocktail in our hands.
I’ll say it…
Dude’s a fucking freak.
Only in modern day America can Captain America become Wonder Woman and be called a “hero” for it. …If that’s the change for the better that the mainstream media is selling, I hate to see where we’ll be in 50 years. Glad I won’t be here to see the Jerry Sandusky “hero” statue at Penn St.