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Stephen A. Smith implies Chip Kelly is racist

By Stanford Crissey

Dec 28, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly before the game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 28, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Chip Kelly before the game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports /
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ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith thinks some of Chip Kelly’s moves seem racist

Look out below: here comes another hot take courtesy of ESPN’s First Take.

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This time we have Stephen A. Smith accusing Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly of racism. Sounds juicy, right? What a hot take! These takes are scorching hot!

Now, Smith didn’t actually use the word “racism” at any point. He did strongly imply it, though. (h/t Pro Football Talk):

“Chip Kelly makes decisions over the last couple of years that, dare I say, leave a few brothers feeling uncomfortable,” Smith said. “I think that’s fair to say. I mean, we’re sitting here looking at some of the decisions that Chip Kelly makes and I’m like what is up? What’s up with that? I mean, it’s like you’ve got to be his kind of guy, you know? And I’m like, well, Riley Cooper’s your kind of guy?”

“Let’s get beyond the system, the operative word is ‘culture,’” Smith said. “The culture is what resonates with me more profoundly because I’m looking at a Chip Kelly and I’m like, really? Now, you’ve got to remember, where did I work for 16 years? I mean, this is Philadelphia. You understand what I’m saying? I’m always in Philly, and I’m telling you right now you’ve got people walking the streets and, hell with it, you’ve got brothers walking the streets going like ‘What’s up with Chip? I don’t understand this. I really don’t understand what you’re doing.’ Now I’m not saying I know, I’m just saying that it does strike me as a tad bit odd. I’m going to repeat this. Gone: LeSean McCoy, Jeremy Maclin, you know, DeSean Jackson. Staying: Riley Cooper. Really? Really? OK.”

Now, it would be perfectly reasonable to make the argument that Eagles fans are frustrated at losing these playmakers, or that they’re baffled that Cooper was retained after yelling the n-word at a club. But to say that Kelly is doing this out of racism is insulting, unsubstantiated and ridiculous.

Smith conveniently forgot the recent signings of Byron Maxwell and Frank Gore. If Chip Kelly is running his team in a racist fashion, he’s horrendously bad at it.

It’s highly unlikely that Smith actually believes this. His job is simply to stir the pot, to look at sports and find inflammatory, headline-grabbing things to say that may or may not have any basis in reality. And let’s not forget that this is the guy who once wrote that the existence of bloggers is “dangerous” to the journalism industry because they are “not experts;” yet confessed in December 2012 that he had never heard of Heisman winner Johnny Manziel until Skip Bayless told him about Manziel.

Sounds like an expert to me.

Smarter sports fans have learned to ignore these kind of “hot takes.” The problem is, too many people still do pay attention and take this stuff seriously. It does make me wish Fire Joe Morgan was still around though.

This being First Take, we can all at least be glad that Tim Tebow’s name wasn’t mentioned. It wouldn’t have made sense in the context, but when has that ever stopped them before?

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