DeSean Jackson’s Release Raises More Questions Than Answers

The Philadelphia Eagles have officially released wide receiver DeSean Jackson. It’s unknown whether the reasons for the release stems from an “investigative” report by Eliot Shorr-Parks and A.J. Perez of NJ.com, but that’s the theory running around the water cooler at this very moment. 

Let me ask you one thing really quickly here before we move on? Would six teams have expressed interest in Jackson if they were worried about gang affiliation? Would they do so less than a year after the whole Aaron Hernandez fiasco broke with the New England Patriots?

If we are going to base reports off innuendos, accounts from distant contacts and our own subjective nature, let’s by all means do it. Six teams wouldn’t have expressed interest in Jackson within an hour of his release if they were worried about some type of gang affiliation.

That “investigate” report is spotty at best and they knew it prior to it being sent to the editor’s desk for approval.

Before Jackson was released, a source within the Eagles organization, who requested anonymity, put it: “They are concerned about having him around the younger players.”

Is it possible that could have to do with Jackson being perceived as a me-first guy rather than a team player?

Then because of an association (not exactly sure what that means, by the way) with Theron Shakir, who was charged with what appears to be a gang-related murder, Jackson is somehow associated to the Crips…a California-based gang that has been around since the late 1960’s.

The report goes on to indicate that Shakir recorded a song on Jackson’s music label.

Hmm, maybe that’s where the association comes from. Again, it does not indicate a gang affiliation.

LAPD detective Eric Crosson later interviewed Jackson on the phone about the crime, indicating that the now free agent receiver was “cooperative.” Any sort of deep relationship with the crime or those charged with murder probably would have required more than a phone call, no?

Let’s not even get into the fact that Shakir was later found not guilty of the crime.

So what we have here is a football player related to an alleged gang member due to the former being the head of a label. The alleged gang member was then found not guilty for an alleged murder.

Okay, got that?

At least one person close to Jackson believes the troubling associations date back to the mid-2000’s, when his father, Bill, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Again, looking at the investigative report. Which is it? One person or more? Crackpot journalism at its absolute finest. We have our own Woodward and Bernstein here, guys/gals.

The report points out another murder that took place in Southern California, a crime that Jackson was never considered a suspect. For the purpose of full disclosure, Shorr-Parks and Perez do point out that the Cal grad has no prior record.

They, however, decide to embed Instagram photos in the article while commenting on their meaning in order to prove a point. Apparently investigative journalism now includes trolling someone’s social media accounts.

The photo above depicts Jackson wearing a RED Los Angeles Angels hat. Let’s circle back to the report that indicated he had close affiliations with members of the L.A-base Crips gang, shall we?

All it takes is a little bit of an investigation to realize that the gang color for the Crips gang is blue, while the color for the rival “Bloods” gang is red. Some might indicate that colors are not as important as they were during the height the feud in the 80’s and 90’s, but that’s just a foolish approach to this. Anyone who has lived in California knows full well what these colors signify in gang-related areas of the state.

Go to areas that are embedded with Crips and wear a red hat. Let’s see how that turns out.

Listen, I have known people close to DeSean Jackson for years now. Having associations that may in fact be living the unfortunate life of gang involvement by no means indicates that he is involved in such activity. In the couple times that I have met the man, there hasn’t been any sign that points to him being in a gang. While that’s subjective and means very little in the grand scheme of things, it’s a bit more than this investigative reports that is linking back to a social media account to help prove a point.

I am not going to sit here and tell you that Jackson isn’t associated with a gang. That would be foolhardy. I will indicate that this report and subsequent information that has come out on Jackson doesn’t verify anything outside of him possibly running with the wrong people.

If that’s the case, it’s surely something potential teams need to look into. After all, those around the league have to be on edge after the whole Aaron Hernandez situation. With that said, it’s all conjecture and speculation here. And that’s my primary issue.

Jackson is being accused of something that could blacklist him from the National Football League. Maybe we might want to get more facts before damning him to that eventual dead end. Unfortunately in the new social media, pay-per-click world that we live in, jumping to conclusions is literally the first thing everyone does.

Let’s hope that NJ.com crossed their T’s and dotted their I’s before running this report. If not, it says more about the state of sports media than an Instagram photo or a potential connection with an accused and acquitted murderer.

That’s my unfiltered take.

Photo: Brace Hemmelgarn, USA Today