Chip Kelly: 'That's The First Penalty I've Ever Gotten'
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Chip Kelly was irate.
With 1:49 remaining in the first half on a key third down play, Darren Sproles was tackled by Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro moments before a Sam Bradford swiftly thrown ball reached Sproles. Two separate officials threw a respective flag for pass interference, but the closet official picked up both flags, eliminating the penalty by claiming the ball had already passed Sproles when contact was made by the defender.
Two plays later, Eagles defensive lineman Fletcher Cox forced a fumble on Saints quarterback Drew Brees. The fumble was reviewed for a long time and Kelly continued to argue about the non pass interference call on Sproles, during the review. The ball was eventually awarded to the Eagles, but so was a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the coach.
"That's the first penalty I've ever gotten in my life," Kelly told Angelo Cataldi and the 94WIP Morning Show on Monday.
Listen: Chip Kelly on the 94WIP Morning Show
"I was wrong and it's not something to really talk about," he continued. "I made a mistake and I talked to our players about playing with emotion, not letting emotion play with them. It was a critical point and time in the game and it was something I shouldn't have done. I'll learn from it."
Cataldi joked, asking Kelly if he will fine himself for the penalty.
"Yeah, I'm actually gonna suspend myself from going on the radio with you," Kelly said sarcastically. "Next week I will not be able to go on the radio because this is the highlight of my week. You have to take away something from me that was very, very important to me and I live for these Monday mornings. It may be, because it was such an egregious mistake, it may have to be a multiple week."
94WIP Morning Show co-host Keith Jones studied the tape and concluded that Kelly was in fact arguing about the picked up pass interference flags. Cataldi rolled Jonesy's theory out to Kelly.
"I think Keith Jones is a really smart man," Kelly said.
