The consensus reaction to the March trade that sent LeSean McCoy from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Buffalo Bills was shock and confusion.
Few have taken it worse than McCoy himself.
Two weeks after the deal, the All-Pro running back described the trade as a “panic move” by Eagles coach Chip Kelly, who in December successfully wrested ultimate say on team personnel from Howie Roseman, previously the club’s general manager. Then in April, McCoy told the Philadelphia Inquirer he doesn’t think Kelly “likes or respects the stars”.
Now it seems he’s settled on a more sinister theory: that Kelly harbors an aversion to black players.
“The relationship was never really great,” McCoy told ESPN The Magazine in an interview excerpted on ESPN.com on Wednesday. “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.”
Over the past year, the Eagles have released wide receiver DeSean Jackson, cornerback Cary Williams and linebacker Trent Cole, and let wideout Jeremy Maclin walk in free agency – high-profile black players all.
However, Kelly also traded quarterback Nick Foles – certainly the team’s most visible white player – while signing DeMarco Murray, Byron Maxwell and a draft class comprised predominantly of black players.
McCoy need not wait long for a shot at revenge against his former team: the Bills visit Philadelphia on 13 December, a fixture that happens only once every eight seasons.
