Now that Eagles receiver Riley Cooper, Eaglers owner Jeffrey Lurie, the league, and non-NFL player Marcus Vick have said their piece regarding Cooper’s horribly racist remark, it’s time for the guys who actually put on the pads and play with Cooper to chime in.
Quarterback Mike Vick told reporters, via Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com, “as a teammate I forgave [Cooper].”
“I know what type of person he is,” Vick said of Cooper. “That’s what makes it hard to understand but easy to forgive him.”
Mike Vick also disagrees with his brother’s remarks about Cooper, saying that Marcus should “not show a level of ignorance himself.”
Receiver Jason Avant also forgave Cooper. “I just know him,” Avant said. “He’s not racist.”
Still, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes via Twitter that, while some players accepted the apology right away, “[f]or some it may take days, weeks and months.”
That’s no surprise. For some players, it’ll be hard not to wonder whether the real Riley Cooper is the guy who uttered one of the ugliest words in the English language during a Kenny Chesney concert, or whether he’s the guy who is behaving magnanimously and contritely at a time when he really has no other choice.