LeSean McCoy believes one of the reasons Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly traded him has to do with the color of his skin.
In a recent interview with Mike Rodak of ESPN.com, McCoy spoke about the issues that existed between him and his former coach. He had some very powerful comments about Kelly’s view on black star athletes.
“The relationship was never really great. I feel like I always respected him as a coach,” McCoy explained. “I think that’s the way he runs his team. He wants the full control.
“You see how fast he got rid of all the good players. Especially all the good black players. He got rid of them the fastest. That’s the truth. There’s a reason. … It’s hard to explain with him. But there’s a reason he got rid of all the black players — the good ones — like that.”
McCoy used DeSean Jackson as an example. As we know, there have been more than a few concerns about Jackson’s behavior both on the field and off of it. Although, McCoy probably feels that there are racist undertones associated with some of those concerns.
It’s no secret that McCoy was upset over the way his tenure in Philadelphia ended. He said last month that Kelly does not like or respect star players, but this is the closest he has come to calling Kelly a racist.
Of course, McCoy was not the first one to toss that accusation out. ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith said earlier this offseason that racial considerations have impacted some of the decisions Kelly has made.
While we know very little about Kelly’s personal views on life, we know that he signed cornerback Byron Maxwell to a $63 million deal this offseason. Maxwell is black. Darren Sproles, who Kelly seemed to favor over McCoy at times last season, is also black. There are plenty of black players on the Eagles roster and black coaches on Kelly’s staff. And don’t forget about the rumors that Philly was recently interested in trading for this player.
Personally, I think Kelly is just an egomaniac when it comes to his system. He doesn’t want to pay top dollar for certain players — regardless of their skin color — because he believes the system is the key to his offense, not the players. That is likely what made McCoy and Jackson expendable to Chip.
