Chip (Kelly) Chop

BY THE TIME Brandon Boykin starting taking back his inflammatory comments, another hit to Chip Kelly's reputation already had been soundly delivered.

Instead of questions about becoming the newest Pittsburgh defensive back, the former Eagles cornerback was peppered yesterday at Steelers training camp with questions about why he had hinted that the Eagles traded him on Saturday because Kelly was "uncomfortable around grown men" of African-American culture.

Boykin tried to clarify that he was not calling Kelly racist when he texted Comcast SportNet reporter Derrick Gunn with his comments. He said what he meant was that he and other players wished Kelly had had better interaction skills with them.

Taken by itself, Boykin's comment could be a case of misunderstanding, except that when Gunn asked him if he meant African-Americans by "grown men of our culture," Boykin responded in the affirmative.

Regardless, at the NovaCare Center, Kelly already had gone through a gantlet of questions about why another former Eagle was pointing at racial motivation before news of Boykin's walk-back came out.

The Eagles had not yet started their first official training-camp practice and the heat already was cranked up to inferno.

"I don't know," Kelly said when asked why this issue of race had been raised again. "Talking to [Boykin about the trade on Saturday night], I think he was stunned. He was disappointed because I think he liked it here and was close to his teammates.

" . . . When [Boykin] left here last night, he shook my hand and gave me a hug. He didn't say anything to me. I really like Brandon so I just don't know."

Former Eagles running back LeSean McCoy and former offensive lineman and assistant coach Tra Thomas were irresponsible when they, without offering any evidence, hinted that Kelly had racial motivations for trading McCoy to Buffalo for linebacker Kiko Alonso.

McCoy lit the match when he said Kelly had gotten rid of "all the good black players."

Thomas added kindling wood when he backed McCoy, saying, "These are the things that you have heard from the locker room from different players is that . . . they feel like there is a hint of racism."

Accusing someone of racism can do serious damage to the reputation of that person. An NFL coach being labeled as such can have devastating repercussions throughout the organization. It's probably why Kelly should have screamed bloody murder and demanded McCoy provide specific names and incidents to support his original caustic claims.

Instead, Kelly took the high road. He refused to address the issue and said it didn't hurt him because, "I'm not governed by the fear of what other people say. Events don't elicit feelings. I think beliefs elicit feelings, and I understand what my beliefs are and I know how I am."

Kelly probably struck his typical laissez-faire stance because he never thought this would be an issue again. Yesterday, he admitted he was hurt and confused by what he believed Boykin had said.

"Yeah, it does," Kelly said when asked if he was bothered by the comments, "but the reality is we have 90 guys and you're going to have to cut to 53, so 37 guys are going to be disappointed.

"I'd imagine that all 37 of those guys are going to have a different opinion than we do as a staff."

Players squeezing sour grapes because of disappointment is nothing new. Implying a coach is making decisions based on race is entirely different. There is no sure-fire defense to that.

There is no doubt that Kelly is a control freak who wants things his way, but every coach of every team in every sport wants basically the same thing.

But unlike Kelly, those coaches have not had three African-Americans recently make statements that could be easily construed as saying they have problems relating with African-American players.

If you use common sense, there is no logical reason for coming to that conclusion about Kelly. Beyond the fact that at least 80 percent of the players the Eagles acquired coming into training camp via free agency, the draft and trades were African-American, Kelly has won 20 of 32 games in his first two NFL seasons. That requires his players buying into what Kelly is preaching and then going out and playing for him.

Considering the majority of players on his rosters were African-American, Kelly could not get that kind of response if he was "uncomfortable" around the culture of adult black men.

At this point, however, it's not even an issue of things making sense. The Eagles' problem is that perception often becomes reality. When African-American players suggest race is part of the reason they no longer are in Philadelphia, things can take on a life of their own. It's a small league, and if the wrong words get around, the potential impact can be devastating.

"Talk to our players," Kelly said about their perception of him. "They're the guys I'm concerned with and I have great confidence in the ones who are coming to train right now.

DeMeco Ryans and Malcolm Jenkins, two African-Americans, both said that while Boykin is entitled to his opinion, they have seen nothing of that from Kelly and have full confidence that his decisions are based on nothing but football.

Of course, that's the same thing Eagles players said after McCoy's claims, and everything had died down until Boykin got traded a few hours before the start of training camp.