The loneliest place in the world has to be the spot wherever Riley Cooper is standing inside the Philadelphia Eagles practice facility.
Cooper, the Eagles wide receiver, acted like a drunken fool at a Kenny Chesney concert held in June. In a video that surfaced this week, Cooper was angry with a black guy who was working security at the show and so he boasted: “I will jump that fence and fight ever n– here, bro.”
Cooper has since apologized, and to his credit did not offer the lame defense that some of his best friends are black. Still, the damage has been done … uh, bro.
Cooper violated the trust of several of his teammates. Did he forget that he plays the ultimate team sport for a living? And that it’s unimaginable to display such a socially degenerate and disrespectful attitude in an environment that demands solidarity?
His words cut so deep that fissures have split within Philly’s locker room.
After this incident, a few Eagles flying under the cloak of anonymity have been quoted about their doubt in Cooper. Even head coach Chip Kelly has admitted that behind closed doors, there could be two Eagles teams — a roster of guys who know and support Cooper and the rest who don’t really know him and can’t stand him at this point.
Now, we can pretty much assume that Cooper will not be invited as a presenter to the next BET Awards. However, it would be wrong to label Cooper as a raging bigot just based on that 20-second video clip.
Does this man use his white bed sheets for other nightly activities? Doubt it. But this we can gather: Cooper is a guy who will work himself into an apoplectic heat over a confrontation with an African-American security guard, then spit out a racial epithet without one stutter or sense of immediate regret.
Too bad for Cooper, someone with a cell phone was recording his rant. Just as bad, his black teammates saw the viral clip.
Currently, the Eagles have at least 47 black players on the active roster. And on that June day, in Cooper’s inebriated mind, it was people who looked like those 47 teammates that he threatened to jump the fence and fight. Yeah, real smart. John Rocker thinks Cooper went too far.
What good could have come from such an ignorant display of bravado? Cooper only managed to tick off every box on the redneck stereotype — wear a cutoff flannel shirt and jean shorts… clutch a long neck bottle… get drunk at a country music concert. But he also ticked off people like Eagles running back LeSean McCoy.
“I just take the attitude of a lot of players on the team,” McCoy said in various published reports on Thursday. “The last couple of days has been tough for everybody. You don’t just say something like that and then it’s just normal.”
“I forgive him because he’s a teammate, but some things (don’t) fit well with myself and other teammates at all.”
Personally, I’ve grown tired of watching Cooper’s confession looped at the top of every sportscast. But McCoy doesn’t just have to look at him — McCoy has to work with him.
This fall, McCoy must block for Cooper, offering himself as a sacrificial lamb to carnivorous linebackers for the greater good of the team. Even if it’s his idiot teammate who’s getting the yardage and padding his stats. Also, put yourself in Michael Vick’s shoes as he drops back and looks for his No. 1 receiver who may or may not respect him as a human being.
The splendor in football can be found in its reliance on trust and teamwork. On every single play, every single one has a unique and separate job, but the success of the moment depends on the unit working together. Like an 11-piece symphony making beautiful music on the gridiron.
But with his thoughtless act, Cooper plays out of tune.
Candace Buckner is a sports writer for The Columbian. She can be reached at 360-735-4528 or candace.buckner@columbian.com.
