Most of you had never heard of Riley Cooper before last week unless you had him on your fantasy football team; and if you did you rarely played him.
For the record, he is a wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles. Now, the question should be should he play at all. Riley Cooper is guilty of a lot of things right now. Here are his three strikes.
Strike one: Women and alcohol sometimes do not mix. Cooper was at a Kenny Chesney concert and was by several accounts over served. I get that. It happens. In this case he was with friends, including a few women and he wanted to be “big time” by showing everyone he could get back stage. His crew also thought it was a good idea. There was one problem. The security guard (who was Black) who was in charge did not as Cooper had no credentials that allowed him access. Upon being denied, Cooper (as my mother used to say) decided he was going to show out. Words were exchanged and he dropped the magic words… “I’ll fight every N-word here tonight.” Obviously, the alcohol gave him the courage. After all he was at a Kenny Chesney concert, not Snoop Dog. That is a real tough guy. Cooper was restrained and escorted off by friends, but the damage had been done. Someone recorded it. Cooper had a problem.
Strike two. Cooper was cool with going on about his night and life until that day late in July when he was confronted about it. At that point he had no control but to step forward and own it. He apologized to everyone and everything that owned a set of ears on the planet in hopes of saving his hide. Here is the problem. Cooper came forward at the end of July. The incident took place in June, which meant Cooper was content on going on with things as if he had gotten away with it. If Cooper had not been confronted, do you really think he would have said anything to anyone, especially his African American teammates on the Philadelphia Eagles? While some of his teammates have welcomed him back, I wonder if the rest of the National Football League feels the same way? Had Cooper acknowledged to his African American teammates right after the event that he messed up, perhaps things could have been different. Instead, he moved on with his life as if it was just another night with the boys or should I say “good old boys” In his apology, Cooper said he was not raised that way and that is really not him. I do not know Riley Cooper but if first impressions have anything to do with it, he has gotten off to a bad start, but you already knew that.
Strike three. The N-word is used way too much in our society. You have some African-American morons who condone it and embrace it when it is said to and about each other and yet want to hold a protest and march when the word is used by someone outside of the race. In Cooper’s case, there is plenty of blame to go around. Cooper, for one, used the word in anger to get attention about his dissatisfaction about a matter and wanted to single out a race of people to prove a point. It does not get any worse that.
I have not been surprised by many of my colleagues (both white and black) who have gone from “What else do you want?” to “What can you say?” The easiest answer in the world is that Riley Cooper should not have the privilege of wearing a uniform in the NFL. However, banning him is not the solution.
Cooper and the likes of him should have to learn first-hand the severity of his misdeed. Cooper should have to be in an environment to learn more about the impact that word has and the community it comes from. He should have to learn it and live it for a while. He should have to see its impact first-hand both socially, and economically. Cooper should have to see how we got to where we are today.
To fine Riley Cooper an “undisclosed amount” of money does no one any good here. Where does the money go? Who does it really help? Oh yeah, a charity. This is bigger than any one charity and a photo op where everyone walks away feeling good about themselves.
As for my colleagues, there is a lesson to be learned here for both black and white. For the few who exist who are black, make yourselves more accountable. Spare me with the “it’s not a sports story or I do not have all the facts” line. Be objective, be part of the solution and not the continued problem that exist in our community. I include myself in this process as we have become an after the fact society whereas someone else will fix it. No sale here.
For my white colleagues, can we dispense from the classic and traditional lines of “what more do you want? He said he was sorry” or “if they said that about a white guy’… or the one that always takes the cake “you guys say it among yourselves.”
It is really time to get out of the excuse business here and action should be taken on all fronts. Riley Cooper has a lot of work to do as does the NFL. For those who want to forgive and move on, what are you proving? For those who are black who want to move on what are you thinking? A second chance has become a fail-safe in our society and most should be entitled to it provided they have learned from their prior transgression.
While I would expect someone from the African American side of this among players to call time out on this matter and demand more than a couple of weeks of sensitivity training, I certainly expect their white teammates to speak even louder as they have the responsibility of understanding the impact of the slur has and should not condone it by their own. Then again, we hear about the so-called brotherhood in sports so why not have a good old family sit down here.
