Riley Cooper Is the Featured Athlete for Black History Month in Eagles Calendar
February 12, 2015
In an awkward instance of ironic timing, Philadelphia Eagles fans who turned to the February page of their 2015 team calendar were greeted with the sight of wide receiver Riley Cooper.
TMZ noted the odd selection, which Eagles representatives are calling an “honest mistake.”
Update: Thursday, February 12
Eagles beat writer Ed Kracz tweeted out a team statement regarding the franchise's 2015 calendar. The team says it did not oversee the development of the product, which was produced by a third-party company.
Ed Kracz @kracze#Eagles on calendar: "We do not oversee the production of the annual team calendar. We do not provide any input ...
2/12/2015, 10:28:15 PM
Ed Kracz @kracze#Eagles (cont): ... about the players who are featured or where those pictures appear in the calendar. The NFL licenses ...
2/12/2015, 10:28:46 PM
Ed Kracz @kracze#Eagles (cont): ... the production of that calendar to a third party and we do not have an opportunity to review the material.”
2/12/2015, 10:29:13 PM
---End of Update---
As you may be aware, February is Black History Month in the United States. You may also be familiar with Cooper, who did little to endear himself to the African American community in 2013 with his use of racial slurs (link contains NSFW language) at a Kenny Chesney concert.
Eagles PR representative Brett Strohsacker told TMZ that Riley’s selection for February was unintentional. He says the team is looking into the matter.
“If anything, it was an honest mistake,” Strohsacker said. “It never crossed our minds. I will look into this issue and see what the thought process was.”
Prepare to answer some questions, calendar committee.
Dan is on Twitter. He is not on the calendar committee.