Cooper DeJean, Who Is White, Was Asked About Being White After Getting Drafted, And It's OK To Laugh About It

I can't get enough of this Cooper DeJean story. I've spent hours this morning just mindlessly scrolling the internet for the best memes, tweets and reactions. 

It's not every day we get a white corner in the NFL. There, I said it. You were already thinking it, so I'll just say it. 

The white cat's out of the bag. Let's put our big boy pants on and talk about it, OK? Cooper DeJean is a white corner from Iowa who will now line up against Tyreek Hill at some point in his career. How is society NOT supposed to talk about that?

We are, and we did – last night, at Coop's introductory press conference with the Philadelphia Eagles. 

Oh yeah, baby! He was asked about being white. It was the elephant in the room, and the man who is currently being labeled "our Jackie Robinson" by white Twitter – relax, it's a joke ( I think?) – took it in stride. 

Welcome to the show, Cooper DeJean. Think you'll make it since you're white and slow?

It's OK to laugh at the Cooper DeJean memes, I promise 

I mean, how's he supposed to answer that? Seriously. How? If it were me, I'd just be honest and say, "Yeah, it's gonna be tough. Not a great track record."

But I'm also not an NFL player who's about to be paid millions, so I get it. 

Look, I know everyone – and by everyone, I mean white people like me – is saying "SEE! CAN'T WE JUST LEAVE RACE OUT OF IT FOR ONCE?!"

Guys, come on. A white corner just got drafted in the NFL. It's like spotting a unicorn out in the wild. Like spotting bigfoot. Like Joe Biden putting together a coherent sentence. 

It doesn't happen often, if ever, so when it does, we HAVE to talk about it. 

I can think of two white corners in my life – that's it. Jason Sehorn, of course, and Ryan Gosling in Remember the Titans. 

And I've got news for you – if Cooper ain't better than Ryan, the Eagles are in trouble. 

Remember a few months ago when that lunatic ex-NFL running back Rashard Mendenhall, stirred the social media pot when he said he wanted an all-white vs. all-black Pro Bowl?

Some people got pissed at that. I found it hilarious. I'm a white guy – have been since birth – and I can objectively tell you the all-white pro bowl team would be in trouble. Let's just be honest here. Deceptively fast can only carry you so far when you're going against actually fast dudes. That's just science. 

But people got all pissed at that and cried racism and this and that – blah blah blah. Can't we just laugh again in this freaking country? One time, can we PLEASE laugh again at stuff that's edgy? It's OK, I promise. It's allowed. The sun will still come up tomorrow, I promise. 

I can't think of a funnier subject than a white corner from Iowa named Cooper getting drafted one pick ahead of a black corner from Alabama named Kool-Aid. 

And if you can't laugh at that – black, white or purple – then that's on you. Not me. 

Welcome to the league, Cooper! Breaking barriers in 2024. What a time to be alive. 

Did you laugh? Let me know at Zach.Dean@OutKick.com.