Who’s Playing For Limbaugh?
Posted by The Insider on
October 10, 2009
When news broke that right-wing conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh was trying to purchase the St.Louis Rams, there was bound to be backlash. Giants DE Mathias Kiuwanukas has publicly stated that he would “never play” for a team owned by Limbaugh, even if his former defensive coordinator is head coach.
Several of the NFL’s black players, including the Jets Bart Scott share this sentiment. There is a reason that Limbaugh incites this reaction amongst some black professional athletes. In the past, Limbaugh has likened the NBA to a “thugs” league and franchises to “gangs.” He was fired from an ESPN television job because of racially insensitive comments about Eagles QB Donovan McNabb. Scott had this to say about Limbaugh’s comments:
A lot of us took it as more of a racial-type thing. I can only imagine how his players would feel. I know I wouldn’t want to play for him. He’s a jerk. He’s an —. What he said (about McNabb) was inappropriate and insensitive, totally off-base. He could offer me whatever he wanted, I wouldn’t play for him. … I wouldn’t play for Rush Limbaugh. My principles are greater and I can’t be bought.
CBSsports.com columnist Mike Freeman had this to say:
Limbaugh is a pungent bowl of stark raving bigoted lunacy. He’d be a dream to cover. But for the NFL, Limbaugh as an owner would be as comfortable as a colonoscopy with a periscope. It’d be one of the great nightmares for the sport. The league has made significant strides in putting its horrid racial past behind it. The NFL isn’t perfect on the issues of ethnicity but it tries.
Allowing Limbaugh, who plays the song “Barack the Magic Negro” on his radio show, a seat at the owner’s table would instantly undermine everything the NFL has worked decades to accomplish.
There is no way Rush Limbaugh should not be allowed to own a NFL team. His history of racially insensitive remarks about blacks, from McNabb to Obama will make it difficult for black players to rationalize playing for that organization. Limbaugh continues to be very critical and mean-spirited towards President Obama, whom many black NFL players hold in high esteem and regard.
