That’s Not LeSean McCoy Talking, It’s His Ego
“The relationship was never really great. I feel like I always respected him [Chip Kelly] as a coach. I think that’s the way he runs his team. He wants the full control. You see how fast he got rid of all the good players. Especially all the good black players. He got rid of them the fastest. That’s the truth. There’s a reason. … It’s hard to explain with him. But there’s a reason he got rid of all the black players — the good ones — like that.”
-LeSean McCoy
That quote is from ESPN.com’s recent Q&A with LeSean McCoy. Actually, I think it’s from McCoy’s ego more so than the LeSean we came to know and love in Philadelphia. It’s an ego that is bruised and bitter and can’t get past the fact that he wasn’t wanted any longer.
That’s understandable. A guy like McCoy, with his athletic abilities, has probably been the first picked in pick-up games growing up as a kid. He’s probably been the stand-out player at every level at which McCoy’s played. He’s never known rejection. He’s never been unwanted.
I appreciate McCoy’s ego believing that he’s the best running back in the game and ignoring that his skills may be diminishing or that he’s not the right back for a system. Hell, he’s probably been the right back for every system wherever he played, until now. That’s gotta hurt.
His ego can’t objectively assess his current situation. In order to be successful going forward, McCoy has to believe he’s still one of the best in football—even though he ranked 10th in yards per attempt among the top 10 RBs in regards to rushing yards. McCoy’s ego has to find a factor outside of his personality or skill set as the reason Philadelphia no longer desired his services.
In the name of self-preservation, the ego conjures up the idea that maybe Chip Kelly is a racist. That would explain it. But wait, didn’t Chip Kelly pick Michael Vick as his starter in 2013, over white Nick Foles? And….in 2015, with Chip Kelly taking control of all football decisions he added 13 African-American players and only 4 Caucasians (Thanks to Jimmy Kempski twitter for that nugget). And, 5 of 6 players drafted by Chip Kelly were African-American.
The ego is resilient. McCoy’s realizes that this argument will not work. The ego tweaks the theory so that McCoy now states how fast Chip got rid of all the good Black players. The release of DeSean Jackson corroborates this theory. Yup, that’s the ticket. Chip MUST be racist against good Black players. That works!
So, that’s the line McCoy feeds to ESPN. He believes it because the ego is a powerful and convincing force. He doesn’t care that Demarco Murray is a good Black player. He doesn’t care that Byron Maxwell is a good Black player or Jason Peters or Fletcher Cox. He doesn’t care that Jordan Matthews, an African-American, replaced DeSean Jackson and had a comparable rookie year. That’s how powerful an ego can be.
If you look at the rest of the article, you may see more reasons why McCoy isn’t around. Such as:
Q: It’s been said that you dance too much in the backfield, that you’re not a one-cut runner. How do you respond to that?
A: (MccCoy)I don’t. For what? I let my numbers speak for themselves. I really do. I mean, all of these one-cut runners, you put their numbers up against mine, they’re not even close.
That’s faulty logic because every offense isn’t the same. A true comparison will be after this year with a one-cut runner in Chip’s system. That will determine if McCoy’s style was not a fit, as Chip believes.
Q: What kind of player would you describe yourself as?
A: A playmaker. I make plays. In the air, on the ground, one cut or a million cuts — I don’t think it matters.
Maybe Chip wasn’t looking for a playmaker, but someone who executed the plays as designed. This is like saying “F**K YOU, Chip and your plays, I’ll make something happen.” That worked with Andy Reid. It doesn’t work with Chip Kelly. That’s probably why he’s in Buffalo more than anything.
By the way, stating that Chip Kelly traded away all the good Black players is a dig at the likes of Demeco Ryan, Fletcher Cox, Jason Peters, and Mychal Kendricks. That’s a solid ex-teammate there.
The more Shady speaks, the more he looks like a wounded and bitter individual. I’m starting to feel sorry for him. I wish he’d just shut up about the Eagles and Chip Kelly and worry about the Bills. Something tells me this will get worse before it gets better as the Eagles and Bills face each other this year.