The Philadelphia Eagles are currently dealing with a public relations disaster.
According to TMZ, the team’s 2015 calendar picked out an interesting player to highlight for February’s Black History Month.
#Eagles' Riley Cooper is featured athlete for #BlackHistoryMonth on team calendar #NFL – http://t.co/2kMXxu6lMy pic.twitter.com/3k9YaeT1Cd
— Philadelphia (@SunTimesPHI) February 12, 2015
That’s Riley Cooper, an Eagles wide receiver and professional white guy.
This gaffe is especially embarrassing for the Eagles considering Cooper’s racially charged past. During the summer of 2013, a video of an inebriated-Cooper attending a Kenny Chesney concert made its way around the Internet. The amateur footage clearly shows Cooper threatening to “fight every every n***** here, yo.”
WATCH (NSFW):
Cooper has since apologized for his comments, and a public backing from former Eagles QB Mike Vick — coupled with 11 touchdown grabs since the video — have helped Philly fans to move past the things Cooper said.
A spokesperson for the Eagles has said the that organization is “[looking] will look into this issue to see what the thought process was… If anything, it was an honest mistake.” It might have been an honest mistake, but it’s a mistake that could’ve been avoided.
Next time y’all are printing calendars, make sure the guy pictured on the Black History Month page isn’t viewed as the biggest racist in the league by half the country.
Simple as that.