National Football League

Hopkins racially criticizes McNabb

Published May. 11, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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Donovan McNabb isn't playing for the Eagles anymore, but apparently he still riles Philadelphians.

Legendary Philly boxer Bernard Hopkins attacked the Washington Redskins quarterback's racial credentials Wednesday in a Philadelphia Daily News online article.

"He's got a suntan. That's all," Hopkins, who, like McNabb, is black, is quoted as saying by the Daily News.

Hopkins, who has a light heavyweight title fight May 21 against champion Jean Pascal, felt McNabb dissed him during Hopkins' visits to the team's practice sites, the newspaper reported. Both athletes were extremely popular in Philadelphia at the same time: Hopkins was middleweight champion from 1995 to 2005 and McNabb joined the Eagles in 1999, leading the team to five NFC title games and one Super Bowl appearance.

The rhetoric was ratched up Wednesday when Hopkins addressed McNabb's displeasure last year when he was traded to the Redskins after 11 seasons in Philadelphia.

"Why do you think McNabb felt he was betrayed? Because McNabb is the guy in the house, while everybody else is on the field," Hopkins told the newspaper. "He's the one who got the extra coat. The extra servings . . . He thought he was one of them."

McNabb would not comment on Hopkins' remarks, the quarterback's agent told the Daily News.

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