Cal Football: DeSean Jackson in Hot Water After Posting Fake Hitler Quotes on Instagram

Former Bears wide receiver makes feeble attempt to retract his comments

Photo by Jerry Habraken

DeSean Jackson has some serious explaining to do.

The three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver from Cal posted fake anti-semitic quotes from Adolf Hitler on his Instagram page, then re-posted some of the same quotes while attempting to claim he has no ill feelings toward Jewish people.

Jackson, 33, and in his second run with the Philadelphia Eagles, lit the controversy by posting a long quote, supposedly from Hitler, in which the former Nazi leader said he would someday cause World War III to stop white Jews from oppressing African Americans.

DeSean Jackson's initial Instagram post

Snopes reported in 2017 that the quotes are fabricated, and cannot found in any source earlier than 2015 — 70 years after Hitler’s death.

The Philly Voice said the comments date back to a book published in 1980.

Research suggests the screenshotted passage is from the book "Jerusalem" by Dennine Barnett, as the font in Jackson's post matches text in that book. But Barnett attributes the quote to a book by historian Robert Edwin Herzstein, "The Nazis World War II," published in July 1980.

Either way, Jackson is hardly exonerated, given that he did not realize the quotes were fakes when he put them on his Instagram page.

Jackson later attempted to backtrack his comments with this post:

DeSean Jackson's attempt at explaining himself

Inexplicably, those remarks were situated beneath a re-posting of some of the earlier quotes attributed to Hitler.

***Click here for statements from the Eagles and the NFL in response to Jackson's comments as well as a Jackson apology video posted Tuesday.

Jackson never offered an explanation for why readers shouldn’t interpret his remarks as anti-semitic.

Jackson received sharp backlash on social media, including from former Eagles president Joe Banner, a Jewish man, who labeled Jackson's actions, "absolutely indefensible.”

Neither Eagles team owner Jeffrey Lurie or general manager Howie Roseman -- both Jewish -- made any public comment on Monday.

Jackson’s first weekend post apparently came after he spent time watching and listening to Minister Louis Farrakhan, the controversial leader of the Nation of Islam, who has been identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-semitic extremist.

"This man powerful," Jackson said of Farrakhan. "I hope everyone got a chance to watch this!! Don't be blinded. Know what's going on!!”

Jackson played three seasons through 2007 for Cal before being selected in the second round of the 2008 NFL draft by Eagles. In 12 seasons with Philadelphia, Washington and Tampa Bay, Jackson has caught 598 passes and scored 63 total touchdowns.

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Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo

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