For the first six seasons of his career, wide receiver DeSean Jackson was a bonafide star for the Philadelphia Eagles. After three 1,000-yard seasons and three Pro Bowl appearances, Jackson was a valuable part of the Eagles offense.
However, once former Oregon coach Chip Kelly came to Philadelphia, Jackson's days as an Eagle were limited. Despite just coming off the best season of his career (82 catches for 1,332 yards and nine touchdowns), Kelly would try to trade the star wideout and after failing at that, would cut him in March of 2014.
Now, in 2020, Jackson is on his second stint with Philadelphia and with Kelly now long gone, Jackson spoke on what it was like being cut in 2014 as well as his relationship with the former coach.
“Honestly, bro, the past is the past, but I will say when I was released by the Eagles it was definitely a shove in my face, you know?” Jackson told teammate Lane Johnson, via NBC Sports Philadelphia. “The story that was made up and the reason behind it was hard for me to respect. I would have respected it a lot more, man, if they would have just came to me and just told me basically it’s a money issue or we’re going a different route. But no, you want to come up and say I’m a hoodlum and I’m doing all this crazy [stuff]? That [stuff] was personal to me.”