The Philadelphia Eagles penalized wide receiver DeSean Jackson who posted anti-Semitic quotes he attributed to Hitler on Instagram this week, the team said Friday.
The Eagles did not provide details about the penalty, but said it acted because of “conduct detrimental to the team.” Jackson accepted the consequences and apologized, according to the team statement.
“In our many conversations with him, it has also been made clear that this is only the beginning. We have discussed a concrete plan for how we and he can heal moving forward,” the Eagles said in a statement.
“He understands that in order to remain on the team, he must also commit to supporting his words with actions,” the team said.
NBC Sports reported that the penalty is a fine, and that according to terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, NFL teams can fine a player up to one week’s pay for conduct detrimental to the team. The team did not immediately respond to an email from NBC News Friday night seeking comment about details of the penalty.
On Instagram on Monday, Jackson, who began his NFL career with the Eagles and then went to other teams before returning for the 2019 season, showed a picture of text detailing a conspiracy theoryabout a Jewish plot to oppress African Americans.
He cited Adolf Hitler as the source of the anti-Semitic text, but it’s more likely to have come from the book “Jerusalem” by Dennine Barnett.
Inanother Instagram post Monday, Jackson blacked out much of that offensive text and wrote “this,” pointing to only one portion of the screed about a “plan for world domination,” apparently as evidence he’s not anti-Semitic.
Jackson has apologized. The wide receiver tweeted Friday that he spoke with a 94-year-old Holocaust survivor and said he was “taking this time to continue with educating myself.”
“We have been encouraged by his desire to educate himself, but we all understand that there is still a lot of work to be done,” the team said.
“We must continue to fight against anti-Semitism and all forms of discrimination, while not losing sight of the important battle against systemic racism,” it said.
