Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Sometimes people inadvertently say more by their silence, and LeSean McCoy joined that club on Wednesday by how he handled his latest press conference. McCoy talked to the press and spoke volumes about Chip Kelly, the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.
No, the new featured back for the Buffalo Bills did not say anything about Kelly, but his refusal to do so spoke more. McCoy made a mistake in calling Kelly a racist, and his refusal to elaborate on those views was a tacit admission to the mistake. McCoy opened the press conference by saying he would not say anything about Kelly or the Eagles, but when the first three questions about him were about those topics, McCoy became short with the media.
And the last question, about why he didn’t return Kelly’s calls, spoke the loudest. McCoy was ill-advised in calling Kelly a racist in the first place, and his refusal to return Kelly’s phone calls was a sign of guilt in the least and cowardice at the worst.
While Kelly cutting DeSean Jackson, leaving Jeremy Maclin go and trading McCoy can be considered questionable football moves, in no objective way can they be considered racist. Kelly’s last two first-round picks were African-Americans, and in Marcus Smith’s case, that could also be considered a questionable football move. He also replaced McCoy with DeMarco Murray who is an African-American.
McCoy would have received a lot of support had he questioned Kelly’s moves on a football level, not a race level. Those few who support McCoy’s views point to Kelly’s retention of Riley Cooper as proof that he is a racist, but those same people fail to remember that Kelly needed Cooper when Maclin went down with a season-ending injury two years ago and needed Cooper more when Jackson left. Cooper’s future with the team is in jeopardy this season with the upgraded Eagles receiving corps.
McCoy, with a lot of tread on his tires at a position where the rubber tends to wear thinnest, also has an uncertain future, and maybe he already understands that his judgment of Kelly was misguided.
Mike Gibson is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @papreps , “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
