On Friday, receiver DeSean Jackson officially became a former Eagle. Also on Friday, $250,000 officially became a former amount of cash allegedly stolen from him in January.
Coincidentally or otherwise, police dramatically reduced the estimated haul of cash from Jackson’s home in January. Initially, reports indicated thieves had stolen $250,000 in cash, $125,000 in jewelry, and two guns.
According to Michael Newall of the Philadelphia Inquirer, only $20,000 was stolen.
“This was a genuine mistake on our part,” police spokesman John Stanford said. “His mother was giving police what she thought was in the home. [T]hey interviewed Jackson, he knows what’s in his house, and he said, ‘No, that’s wrong.’ He told them what was missing.”
But like so many other things associated with Jackson’s final weeks with the Eagles, this one doesn’t add up. If only $20,000 was stolen from Jackson, why did he offer (according to Jeff McLane of the Inquirer) a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators?
Something doesn’t add up. It could be, if the report of the reward was true, that Jackson deliberately lowered the amount stolen from him once he realized that it simply wasn’t a good look for him to have so much money in his house -- and to then have it stolen.
And if Jackson provided his reduced estimate to police back in January, it doesn’t make sense that the reduced estimate remained under wraps until the very day Jackson was cut.All things considered, it’s hard not to at least wonder whether the Eagles wanted to keep the notion of Jackson having $250,000 in cash and losing it alive while the team went through the machinations of making Jackson a former member of the team. Then again, nothing stopped Jackson from going public to make it clear that he was robbed of only $20,000.Unless, of course, the truth is that the higher amount was stolen.