DeSean Jackson Addresses Antisemitic Remarks Made in July

The Eagles WR spoke to reporters on Sept. 9, which was the first time he answered questions about his vitriolic social media posts

PHILADELPHIA - DeSean Jackson didn’t want to dive too deeply into his antisemitic remarks on Wednesday that certainly stirred up plenty of controversy from those early July days, though the Eagles’ veteran receiver spent the first few minutes of his first interview with reporters since then fielding some questions about it.

“The aftermath of everything has been a long process,” said Jackson in a 15-plus minute zoom call with the media following Wednesday’s practice. “I’ve been using the time to educate myself and I really just man up to the actions I took. The biggest thing I can say is just educate and learn from it.

“Over the past few months, I had to reflect on life. People make mistakes in life, and that was a mistake I made. I had to own up to it as a man, which I did. But I think I’m taking the proper steps and educating myself and learning from something I didn’t really know too much about.”

Jackson used quotes that were originally linked to Adolf Hitler on social media during the Fourth of July weekend, quotes that railed against people of Jewish heritage.

On his Instagram account that weekend, Jackson posted, in part, that “the Jews will blackmail America, they will extort America, their plan for World Domination won’t work if the Negroes know who they were.”

Jackson was harshly reprimanded by Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, who also fined Jackson.

Lurie said in a statement shortly after the incident came to light that “in order to remain on the team, he must also commit to supporting his words with actions.”

Since then, Lurie talked to the media via Zoom on Aug. 30 and was asked about Jackson.

“I thought the social media posts were disgusting and appalling,” said Lurie. “I don't think anybody can take it any other way. You're talking about a leader of a genocide, and it doesn't matter what it was a genocide of. Any leader of a genocide is one of the worst individuals and a member of a group of individuals that we've seen both in our lifetime and in history.

“I've known DeSean for a long time. Obviously, we all have. He has, I think, really understood the ramifications of that appalling post. So far, everything that we've asked him to do to both educate himself and to learn and take action, he's done completely. So, I would hope that would continue.

“I also think that in life, you have to understand fully where a person is coming from. I listened. I listened. It doesn't take away the hurt. It doesn't take away the words. But I think that with DeSean, he's doing the right things, and that has to continue. That's a daily event, and that's where that's at.”

Asked on Wednesday specifically what actions he was taking Jackson didn’t cite any one thing.

“Honestly, man, numerous things,” he said. “I think everything I’ve done has been out there. Once again, the situation I learned from. I’m not going to sit here and make this the topic of discussion because I’ve owned up to it, said my apology, and took the proper steps to enlighten myself and learn from it.

“I want to take the time to say there’s a lot of things going on in this world, and I just feel like my voice is to be heard. Obviously, with the situations we’re doing in the community that I was raised in, in the Black Lives community, there’s a lot going on in the world that we’re living in.”

The Eagles open their season on Sunday against the Washington Football Team in Landover, Md., and Jackson, now 33 and entering his 13th NFL season, said he is healthy again after playing only one full game in 2019.

He suffered a core muscle injury against the Falcons in Week 2 last year, tried to come back for a November game but was shut down in order to have surgery.

“I’m feeling great, man,” he said. “It’s been a long offseason for me. I got surgery in November, so November, December, and obviously January was very tough.

“To take a whole year off, that was like the first year I’ve ever missed a full season. Just kind of had to refocus, stretch and yoga, implemented yoga, and implemented a diet, eating the right foods, and really just taking the time to take care of my body.”

Get the latest Eagles news by joining the community. Click "Follow" at the top right of EagleMaven page. Mobile users click the notification bell. And please follow me on Twitter @kracze.