Eagles release Desean Jackson, reportedly due to gang affiliations


Desean Jackson has been on the trading block for a couple weeks now.

The receiver is coming off the best season of his career with 82 catches for 1,332 yards and 9 TDs. So, the decision to try to trade him was a bit perplexing. A trade could not be worked out, so today the team has decided to release him.



The question you, and every football fan in the country is asking, is why?

The answer, is a familiar one for Patriots fans. Everyone knew that Desean Jackson has had off-field troubles before, even involving guns, but the latest report may ultimately cost him his NFL career.

Gangs.

NJ.com:
And when the Eagles looked more deeply into why Jackson was missing meetings, they found that his friends were becoming a more powerful -- and negative -- influence in his life.

Now the Eagles have even more serious concerns -- Jackson's continued association with reputed Los Angeles street gang members who have been connected to two homicides since 2010.

NFL teams have been much more cautious about their own players since the Patriots were forced to cut ties with a player of their own, Aaron Hernandez. The former star tight end was arrested for first degree murder last June, in what is believed to be a gang related crime.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft came out earlier this week to say that the team would not be signing receiver Kenny Britt, whom they hosted for a visit, due to his off-field troubles with the law. It goes without saying that the Patriots would not touch Desean Jackson given this latest information, and possible that no other team will.

NJ.com discovered several gang-related murders that were connected to Desean Jackson in some way. In no case was Jackson believed to be the actual murderer, but it becomes clear that he is affiliated with people in LA gangs who are.

Jackson has also been seen in instagram photos with members of the Crips gang, and has been photographed giving Crips signals and even once gave Crips signals on national TV. Apparently, that's not something someone would do if they weren't in or affiliated with the Crips.

"You don't want to see anybody throwing up gang signs like he did in the Redskins game last year," [Detective] Crosson said. "Those were neighborhood Crip gang signs and he flashed them during a game. He may not be affiliated with the gang, but they don't [ordinarily] take kindly to those not in the gang throwing up those gang signs."

As for the Eagles, aside from having a member of their team being affiliated with gangs, they also believed Jackson was a detriment to the team. He was reportedly skipping team meeting quite regularly to meet up with friends and did not have a good relationship with coach Chip Kelly.

Still, there is no clear connection implying that Jackson is in fact a member of the Crips, and he has never been a suspect in any murder investigations. Will that be enough for a team to take the risk and sign him?

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