Eagle's Riley Cooper May Lose His Job Over Offensive N-Word Slur at Security Guard
As tensions continue to fester over a viral video of Philadelphia Eagle's wide receiver Riley Cooper, 25, hurling a cutting n-word slur at a black security guard at a Kenny Chesney concert last month, many are predicting his dismissal from the team is inevitable.
A 20-second clip that has been viewed more than two million times since it was posted to YouTube on Wednesday, shows a heated Cooper declaring: "I will jump that fence and fight every n***er here" while at the concert.
(Warning: Video contains offensive speech)
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As word spread of his actions over the last few days, his teammate, Eagle's quarterback Michael Vick, was one of the first to publicly offer support as the firestorm over his comments many found offensive began to grow.
"Riley's my friend our relationship is mutual respect. He looked me in the eyes and apologized. I believe in forgiveness and I believe in him," tweeted Vick on Wednesday.
But Vick's forgiveness wasn't shared by some of Cooper's other teammates like running back LeSean McCoy, who told news reporters that he lost a friend in Riley because he couldn't respect him anymore because of his comments.
"It's new and hopefully it wears off, but at this point, I speak for myself and other teammates, it's definitely different. Coop was one of my good friends on this team, and I just feel like it was a matter of thinking that nobody was watching, and that's when a person shows who they really are. That's exactly what took place," said McCoy.
Eagle's owner Jeffrey Lurie confirmed in an ESPN report on Thursday that Riley was fined by the team and condemned his behavior.
"We are shocked and appalled by Riley Cooper's words," Lurie noted in a statement. "This sort of behavior or attitude from anyone has no role in a civil society. He has accepted responsibility for his words and his actions. He has been fined for this incident."
Cooper, who is expected to play a larger role in the Eagles' offense this year due to a season-ending injury to wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, apologized for his behavior and said he was ready to face all consequences.
"I am so ashamed and disgusted with myself," Cooper said in a statement. "I want to apologize. I have been offensive. I have apologized to my coach, to Jeffrey Lurie, to Howie Roseman and to my teammates. I owe an apology to the fans and to this community. I am so ashamed, but there are no excuses. What I did was wrong and I will accept the consequences."
But Cooper's apology hasn't done much to quell the tension among his teammates, who according to ESPN, is now a pariah.
"Guys are hurting right now," Vick, who spoke of forgiveness on Wednesday told ESPN's Ashley Fox.
"I was in a different mood yesterday," he further noted. "I tried to defuse it for a day, but I can't make it go away… I can't do that. It's too big."
According to Fox: "No one was playing with, much less for, Cooper in practice Thursday. It's hard to envision that changing, which is why the Eagles are going to have to cut him."
