Chip Kelly was accused of being racist by LeSean McCoy earlier this offseason, and the topic came up again over the weekend after the Philadelphia Eagles traded Brandon Boykin to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Shortly after being dealt, Boykin said Kelly is “uncomfortable” being around “grown men in our culture.” He later insisted he wasn’t calling Kelly racist, but the remarks still led to Eagles players — including Mark Sanchez — being asked if Kelly displays any prejudicial tendencies.
Mark Sanchez finds the notion completely ridiculous.
“That’s nuts,” Sanchez said Sunday, per Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post. “(During stretching today) guys were like, ‘Sanchez, ain’t you Mexican? And (Sam) Bradford, aren’t you Native-American?’ And Kiko (Alonso) is Columbian. We’ve got black guys, white guys, Polynesian guys.
“Come on, that’s crazy. It’s not even worth talking about. Stop asking the players about it. It’s getting old.”
Kelly would have an incredibly difficult time doing his job if he was racist, as the NFL is made up of nearly 70 percent black players.
Kelly made some comments in 2008 that explain exactly why he traded McCoy, and it has nothing to do with skin color. He is obviously a hard-nosed coach who has a difficult time getting along with some players, but he’s hardly the first NFL coach with those characteristics.
As we mentioned before, the only thing Kelly is guilty of is trusting his system above all else. He doesn’t seem to care how many Pro Bowls a guy has made. If Kelly doesn’t think you fit his system, you’re not going to be around very long.
