Nick Piccone
Malcolm Jenkins was a guest with Angelo Cataldi on the WIP Morning Show today, and had some great things to say about training camp and players that have stood out. But one of the more poignant things he said was what many people have been speculating for a while, but because Chip doesn’t talk much, we haven’t heard it from him. And that’s that Chip isn’t a me-first type of guy, and he doesn’t want to coach me-first type of guys.
After talking about Brandon Boykin and him likely being a started for the Steelers [but wouldn’t have been a starter this year for the Eagles… really interesting stuff from Jenkins on that topic, too], Jenkins was asked by Cataldi about Boykin’s comments about Chip after he was traded. Jenkins had a great response.
Audio below, courtesy of 94WIP. 2:00 mark
“At the end of the day, we’re all here to do a job. So, whether you feel like Chip can go have a beer with you, or you feel like Chip is not really a good friend to you, it doesn’t matter. I think Chip does a great job of explaining what he wants us to do, how we’re being evaluated and guys can hold themselves accordingly. Now, the one thing I will say about Chip is he’s not really a big fan of guys who want to be individuals. He’s very, very, very much about the team sport and guys being uniformed and really putting the team first.
And so, you know, some guys have an issue with that. In an age where everybody is trying to do their own individual thing and market themselves, I think that might be an area which might rub guys the wrong way. But at the end of the day, that’s how they want this team run, and you’re going to bring in team-first guys who want to be here and want to buy in who don’t mind sitting in with the team. No, I don’t think anything’s wrong with that.”
Much like our earlier post where I said Chip’s mantra about his coaching philosophy makes sense, this also makes the most sense of why Chip has gotten rid of certain players, and players that are both white and black. The NFL is a hard pool to disassociate from me-first players because they’re everywhere. Rarely do you find professional football players that are of the team-first mentality, and I think that’s just human nature. It takes a certain kind of person to put ego aside when they’re surrounded by players that are often lauded more than they are, players making more money than they are, and there are many other factors that go into being a me-first type guy.
Clearly the players Chip has gotten rid of fall under one of two categories: not good enough, or me-first. That’s something he won’t waiver from, and it’s rather admirable that he hasn’t changed his approach to dealing with the big personalities that come with being an NFL star. Even Evan Mathis tested Chip and was basically undressed in front of the rest of the NFL.
Racism is still an issue in this country, yes, but it’s becoming apparent that racism isn’t an issue with Chip Kelly. All the blowhards who go on television or radio and continue to push that narrative are just trying to create an atmosphere so people care about what comes out of their mouths or words that they write on a screen. I get annoyed when I have to write something on Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless, but they won’t shut the hell up about it, so it remains in the minds of the people who are stupid enough to listen to them and formulate an opinion based off what they say.
And, honestly, they’re only saying that because Chip doesn’t want to talk to them. So, whatever. We’re done covering Stephen A. Smith here in regards to racism and Chip Kelly.
Jenkins had some really good comments about training camp, and you can listen to the entire interview here.