Some Eagles players reportedly want Riley Cooper off team for racist remark
Philadelphia Eagles receiver Riley Cooper is not in a good place, and he deserves everything that is coming his way. As most of you have probably heard, Cooper was caught on camera making a racially insensitive remark, and the video has gone viral.
The 25-year-old has issued an apology and already been fined by the Eagles, but that may not be good enough for some of his teammates.
According to Mike Freeman of CBS Sports, an anonymous Eagles player said that both black and white members of the team are outraged over Cooper’s remark and that some players want him off the team. Cooper may even face a suspension from the NFL in addition to the fine, but the real question will be how the incident affects the Eagles’ locker room.
Cooper may eventually claim he was drinking and that he didn’t mean what he said, but most people aren’t going to buy it. The average person doesn’t just come out with a comment like that even if they are intoxicated, and there might be nothing Cooper can do to convince some of his teammates he is not a racist.
[Related: Someone updated Riley Cooper’s Wikipedia page after racist comment]
From a football standpoint, this is a horrible situation for Philadelphia. They can’t risk keeping Cooper around if it’s going to poison the locker room, but they were also expected to rely on him heavily in the passing game with Jeremy Maclin out for the season with a torn ACL.
[Related: Marcus Vick places bounty on Riley Cooper]
The best thing for all parties to do at this point is wait for the dust to settle. But even when it does, there is no guarantee Cooper will ever be liked by his teammates again.