If Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson wants a history lesson — a reality check — Edward Mosberg is willing to give him one.
Mosberg, 94, is a Holocaust survivor and he is offering the Eagle a tour of the Nazi death camps after the football player’s insensitive” and “ill-informed” Instagram posts earlier this week.
In an open letter to Jackson, Mosberg said Jackson’s posts as “heartbreaking and so deeply wrong.”
“The Allied Forces, including American troops, carrying with them American flags fought valiantly and suffered unspeakable losses to stop this evil, the same man you quote!” Mosberg wrote. “I would invite you to join me at the sites of these German Nazi death camps, to understand what evil truly is, and why sharing quotes of the man behind this evil is so offensive to us all.”
Mosberg is chairman of From the Depths, an organization created by descendants of Holocaust survivors to preserve memories of the atrocity. The organization has hosted athletes like retired NBA star Ray Allen who was appointed to the US Holocaust Memorial Council.
The group would host Jackson at Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland, Mosberg said. Jackson had not responded to the invitation as of this writing.
Just had aFaceTime call w @deseanjackson10 & @michaelgrubin DeSean apologized for his hurtful comments. As Chair of the @phillyholocaust memorial, I offered to host him for an education session & tour of the plaza & he accepted. Confident we can turn this into a positive together https://t.co/y04xobo7Oc
— David Adelman (@david_adelman) July 8, 2020
“People make mistakes sometimes,” Rubin tweeted. “What (sic) matters is that you learn and grow from it and find away (sic) to turn it into a positive! I know DeSean Jackson – he is NOT anti-Semitic and will now make a difference on these issues.”
A former Philadelphia Eagle, Chris Long, ripped Jackson for his comments.
“I mean, quoting Hitler is bad business, but quoting fake Hitler quotes is like a cherry on top,” Long said on his “Green Light” podcast. “I don’t know if it’d be worse if he quoted a real one or the fake one. Needless to say, it’s wrong … It seems like, and I don’t know what it is, but it seems like we’re not allowed to say, ‘Hey, that’s not good.’ It’s not good. It’s wrong, and I’m sure I have Jewish listeners. I’m against anti-Semitism, and I didn’t see and I haven’t seen nearly enough people saying, ‘Yeah, man, this was a misstep.’
“… Just like with Drew Brees, I don’t get to decide when his apology or his learning process on this thing is complete. All I know is that he talked bad about Jewish people, and somehow managed to use a fake Hitler quote doing it, and that is a bleeping disaster … I think it’s bleeping unequivocally.”
The Eagles have yet to determine what, if any, action it will take against Jackson. The team has condemned the receiver’s comments as appalling.
New England Patriots star Julian Edelman weighed in on Instagram, offering Jackson a tour of the Holocaust museum.