Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper, slated to replace Jeremy Maclin in new head coach Chip Kelly's high-powered offense, is not a popular man these days.
Cooper has been humiliated by the release of a video in which a visibly upset and intoxicated Cooper yells "I will jump that fence and fight every n----r here." His comments were made at a Kenny Chesney country music concert in July; he was in the middle of an argument with an African American security guard when he used the slur.
While he has been fined "a significant amount" by the Eagles organization, and received backing from veteran quarterback Michael Vick, others are going to need a while to forgive Cooper. Teammate and running back LeSean McCoy said he "lost a friend" over these comments and "can't respect a guy like that."
Chesney, the man whose music Cooper had come to see, also chastised Cooper's poor choice of words.
"I'm as shocked as anyone to see the video of Riley Cooper that's started circulating on the internet. I don't believe in discrimination in any form, and I think using language like that is not only unacceptable, it is hateful beyond words," Chesney said.
"To judge an entire audience by one loud mouth isn't fair ... not to the NFL, not to the city of Philadelphia and that awesome crowd, not to my band and crew and certainly not to me, who believes music is about bringing people together for friendship and forgetting about the things in life that bring you down."
To his credit, Cooper has apologized several times with apparent remorse, and the Eagles are trying to move on from the incident. The team released a statement that read:
"In meeting with Riley yesterday, we decided together that his next step will be to seek outside assistance to help him fully understand the impact of his words and actions. He needs to reflect. As an organization, we will provide the resources he needs to do so."
Cooper has been ordered by the team to undergo sensitivity training in addition to his fine.
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