NFL
DeSean Jackson Blasts Lack of Player Unity in the NFL
Philadelphia Eagles veteran wide receiver DeSean Jackson is back in the news. Jackson, who was highly criticized in July for sharing anti-Semitic posts on social media, made a recent comment blasting the NFL players and their lack of unity. Although his latest comment wasn’t nearly as controversial as those from July, it might strike a nerve with some of the players in the league.
DeSean Jackson said he learned from his anti-Semitic posts
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In July, DeSean Jackson posted two images on his Instagram story with quotes that were supposedly from Adolph Hitler. The anti-Semitic quotes weren’t just foolish to post, but they were posted a little more than a month after George Floyd died. Racial tension across the country was heating up.
Jackson’s posts said white Jews “will blackmail America. (They) will extort America, their plan for world domination won’t work if the Negroes know who they are. The white citizens of America will be terrified to know that all this time they’ve been mistreating and discriminating and lynching the Children of Israel,” according to ESPN.
Jackson later apologized for the posts via Instagram and said, “I post a lot of things that are sent to me. I do not have hatred towards anyone. I really didn’t realize what this passage was saying.” Jackson said he would go on and educate himself on the matter as his apology would be “more than just words.”
DeSean Jackson turned his negative into a positive
Just days after posting his anti-Semitic comments on social media, DeSean Jackson was on a Zoom call with a Holocaust survivor. Jackson was speaking with Edward Mosberg, a 94-year-old survivor of a Nazi concentration camp. Mosberg invited Jackson to visit Auschwitz, and the Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver accepted.
According to The Jerusalem Post, Jackson said, “I want to take the proper steps to let people know that I never intentionally had any hatred in my heart. I never wanted to put the Jewish community down and I want to educate myself more and help bridge the gaps between all different cultures.”
Jackson said this would be a perfect time for him to educate himself. “I grew up in Los Angeles, and never really spent time with anyone from the Jewish community. I didn’t know much about their history. This has been such a powerful experience for me to learn and educate myself,” Jackson said, according to The Jerusalem Post.
Jackson blasts NFL players for lack of unity
The NBA stopped playing its playoff games for three nights in protest of the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin. DeSean Jackson praised the NBA for its stance but shot down his own league. It was high praise for basketball players, but insulting to those in the NFL.
In a video on Twitter, Jackson was speaking with former NBA player Stephen Jackson. DeSean Jackson mentioned the “brotherhood” the NBA has and said there is none of that in the NFL. “Me, being in the NFL, I feel like the NBA, man, y’all like brotherhood. Y’all so tight together, bro, as far as the NBA association – as far as the players’ side,” he said.
“I feel like in the NFL, we don’t have that brotherhood that y’all got,” DeSean Jackson continued. “If LeBron’s doing something, the whole NBA’s doing it. The main top-10 dudes, if it’s James Harden, whoever the main dudes, if they’re doing something, everybody’s doing it. In the NFL, I feel like it’s a miss-connection.”