Pats' Edelman hopes Jackson posts serve as teaching moment

BOSTON (AP) — New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman said he hopes recent anti-Semitic social media posts by Philadelphia Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson can be a teaching moment, not just for him but others as well.

In a video posted to Instagram on Thursday, Edelman joined the Eagles, NFL and others who have condemned Jackson’s posts over the weekend in which he shared a screenshot of a quote widely attributed to Adolf Hitler, saying in part: “Jews will blackmail America.”

Jackson apologized for the posts in a video on Tuesday, saying in part that they weren’t intended to demean the Jewish community and that he “never should have posted anything Hitler did, because Hitler was a bad person, and I know that.”

Edelman said Thursday that he waited to respond to Jackson’s initial post because of the complexity of the issue. The MVP of the 2019 Super Bowl noted that he has communicated in the past with Jackson over social media and said he has “nothing but respect for his game” on the field.

“I know he said some ugly things, but I do see an opportunity to have a conversation,” Edelman said in the video. “I’m proud of my Jewish heritage and for me it’s not just about religion, it’s about community and culture as well. … There’s no room for anti-Semitism in this world.”

Edelman acknowledged that he didn’t identify as Jewish until later in life, but he has since learned how destructive anti-Semitism can be.

“Whenever I encountered hatred, it never really felt like it was aimed at me,” he said. “It was only after I was part of this community that I learned how destructive hate is.”

But this isn’t the first time Edelman has spoken out about anti-Semitic incidents.

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