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Prior to Doug Pederson's press conference on Tuesday, several Philadelphia reporters noted how Eagles center Jason Kelce and linebacker Connor Barwin were in attendance to watch their new head coach. For some reason, this observation prompted Philly radio host Josh Innes of 94 WIP to call Kelce a "House Negro." Here's more context via CrossingBroad.com:
Innes: "Jason Kelce’s already there, huh? That’s … uh … I’ll give Jason Kelce this, he’s always in character. He never breaks character. His character is: lapdog for whoever the hell the coach is. And he is always … He’s at the press conference, huh? Good for him, bless his heart."
Thomas: "Actually I don’t really blame him because he’s a guy who wants a job."
Innes: "Here’s the thing though, right, it’s like this. Let me find a good comparison here. I was watching Malcolm X yesterday, I was in the airport in Memphis watching Malcolm X, and there was a scene where Denzel’s doing the whole thing about the slave and the house negro? Right? And like, the house negro is the guy who’s gonna tell you like, oh he gets to live in the big house with the boss and every time he refers to something that happens in the house it’s ‘our house’ and ‘we’ and everything like that. And then there’s the actual slave that isn’t the house negro that’s just trying to run away. Essentially what you’re getting here is Jason Kelce is the house negro is what I’m trying to convey to you."
Yikes.
Innes later apologized for his comments:
"I’m the dumbest human being on the planet," Innes said, noting his intention was not to offend anybody. "I apologize for that, I truly do. I’m an idiot."
Kelce gave his response to Innes on Twitter:
.@JoshInnesRadio pic.twitter.com/nbLY8Xmr6u
— Jason Kelce (@Jkelce) January 20, 2016