McCoy Brings Up Race When Discussing Philly Departure

LeSean McCoy brought up race when discussing his departure from Philadelphia with ESPN The Magazine.

Asked about his relationship with Chip Kelly and how their time together ended, McCoy reportedly responded:

“The relationship was never really great. I feel like I always respected him 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.”

The Eagles declined comment to ESPN.

This is not the first time that race has been brought up this offseason. Shortly after Stephen A. Smith made comments on First Take that some of Kelly’s decisions have left “a few brothers feeling uncomfortable,” former Eagles player and coach Tra Thomas offered his thoughts.

“One of the things that you’re seeing right now, and these are the things that you have heard from the locker room from different players is that … they feel like there is a hint of racism,” Thomas said on FOX, via NJ.com.

“I was just disappointed,” said Kelly when asked about those comments at the owners meetings. “We gave Tra a great opportunity. He came in on a Bill Walsh minority internship program. Mr. [Jeffrey] Lurie was nice enough to keep him on for two years – one on offense, one on defense – [to] see if he could find a job in the NFL. So I hope Tra does find a job in the NFL. We don’t have a job open.”

Because Thomas said the racism conversations were happening inside the locker room, does Kelly think he should look into them?

“No,” the head coach responded.

Asked about the Deadspin report that the Eagles are the whitest team in the NFL, Kelly said:

“I don’t look at the color of any player. I just look at how do they fit on our team. In 2015, I don’t think that’s something that’s ever come into my mindset.”

As Jimmy Kempski points out, Kelly’s offseason moves in his first year as head of personnel don’t lend themselves to any racial bias theories.

Eagles 2015 offseason: Black players added: 13 Black players lost: 7 White players added: 4 White players lost: 4 #ScientificChipRacistStudy

— Jimmy Kempski (@JimmyKempski) May 6, 2015

McCoy, though, says that he is not alone in his thoughts on the subject.

“Oh, man. People have heard it,” he said, per ESPN. “I mean … Stephen A. Smith has talked about it. Other players have talked about it. But that’s one of the things where you don’t even care no more. I’m on a new team, ready to play. So it’s nothing to do with Chip. I have no hatred toward him, nothing to say negative about him. When he got [to Philadelphia], I didn’t know what to expect. When he let DeSean go last year, I was like: ‘C’mon. DeSean Jackson?’ So it is what it is.”