On Saturday, during the pre-Hall of Fame induction show on the NFL Network, Deion Sanders took time to address the media feeding frenzy surrounding Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Riley Cooper’s use of the N-word. In so doing, he pulled no punches in saying he is bothered that “African Americans can say the N-word to one another”–that they do so in the locker room and in rap songs–yet they jump all over “a kid who made a mistake” in using the word.

Sanders said: “[Cooper] said something under pressure that really told us what’s inside of him. I can forgive him for that. But I cannot for one minute think that [those going after Cooper] have not said something in [their] home, in [their] workplace, at a club partying, or just among friends that [they] don’t want to get out.”

He then asked rhetorically: “[Yet] you have the audacity to judge this kid?”

Sanders then said “it baffles [him] how African-Americans can say [the word] to one another, but when the other race says it, [they] see a problem.”

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