Riley Cooper has to be thinking that he may have played his last game for the Eagles. His team-ordered separation from the team will become commonplace to the point that considering his return to the team will be an uncomfortable distraction. His return hinges on one question: Does his value as a player outweigh the the ill feeling and loss of goodwill that his racist outburst caused?

I don't put a lot of credence on his apology. If the remarks were completely unrepresentative of his character and beliefs, he would have apologized when it happened, and not when it became financially necessary for him to do so. Also, the slur flowed too easily from his lips as he uttered it with violent overtones. Using the word in the a heinous context was just as easy for him as saying, "Please pass the sugar." I don't buy the drinking excuse either.