Below is a column by Dave Zirin, in my opinion, the best sports journalist in
the country.
Why NFL Owners Must Flush Rush
By Dave Zirin
National Football League owners could be on the verge of a catastrophic error
in judgment. In a league that is 70 percent African-American, an unapologetic
racist is in talks to buy a team. Yes, Rush Limbaugh, along with St. Louis
Blues owner Dave Checketts, is close to buying the St. Louis Rams. In his last
NFL intervention, the man who claims “talent on loan from God” lasted less than
a month as an NFL commentator on ESPN after saying the Philadelphia Eagles'
Donavon McNabb was overrated because the media wanted to see a black
quarterback succeed.
Limbaugh said to KMOX radio, "Dave and I are part of a bid to buy the Rams, and
we are continuing the process. But I can say no more because of a
confidentiality clause in our agreement with Goldman Sachs." So Rush Limbaugh,
champion of East Coast elite-bashing, is in financial cahoots with bailout
world champion Goldman Sachs.
But financial scuzziness aside, Limbaugh's bid must be stopped. The NFL owners
have the power to nix any prospective owner, and if they have a shred of
conscience in their overfed, underworked bodies, they should collectively veto
Limbaugh's joining their exclusive club.
This has nothing to do with Limbaugh's conservative politics. Most NFL owners
are to the right of Dick Cheney. Over the last twenty years, officials on
twenty-three of the thirty-two NFL clubs have donated more money to Republicans
than Democrats.
Most of them are also anonymous figures on the sports landscape. However, with
Limbaugh at the helm, the face of one of the most valuable sports properties in
the world would officially be a person who has a history of brazen contempt for
people of African heritage.
How can the NFL in good conscience embrace an owner who once said , "The NFL
all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any
weapons. There, I said it."
In a league that has practiced historic partnerships with the NAACP, how can
you have an owner who has said, “The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They
should get a liquor store and practice robberies.:
In a league with an all-white ownership and a paucity of African Americans in
front office positions, how can you have an owner who says,
“We didn't have slavery in this country for over 100 years because it was a bad
thing. Quite the opposite: slavery built the South. I'm not saying we should
bring it back; I'm just saying it had its merits. For one thing, the streets
were safer after dark.”
In a league that has long had a mutually beneficial interaction with whoever
was occupying the oval office, how can you have an owner who compares the
President to a Nazi and says about “ life in "Obama's America" :
“The white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering, ‘Yay, right on,
right on, right on, right on."’
And finally, in a league made up of predominately African-American athletes,
how can you have an owner who says , "[Black people] are 12 percent of the
population. Who the hell cares?"
You might think that NFL players with their nonguaranteed contracts and short
shelf life may not be the first people to speak out against Limbaugh. But you'd
be wrong.
New York Giant Mathias Kiwanuka said in the New York Daily News , "I don't want
anything to do with a team that he has any part of. He can do whatever he
wants; it is a free country. But if it goes through, I can tell you where I am
not going to play."
McNabb said in his weekly press conference, "If he's rewarded to buy them,
congratulations to him. But I won't be in St. Louis anytime soon."
New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott said, "I can only imagine how his players
would feel.... He could offer me whatever he wanted; I wouldn't play for him."
In the NFL there has always been one code of conduct for players and one for
ownership. Retired player Roman Oben called out the hypocrisy perfe ctly:
"Character is a constant point of emphasis for NFL and team officials when it
comes to the players; potential owners should be held to the same level of
scrutiny and accountability."
Oben is absolutely right. In a league where commissioner Roger Goodell
constantly drones on about "character," the idea that a prominent bigot could
rise to a position of power would be an example of unforgivable hypocrisy. Tell
your local NFL owner: you must flush Rush.
[Dave Zirin is the author of “A People’s History of Sports in the United
States” (The New Press) Receive his column every week by emailing
d...@edgeofsports.com. Contact him at edgeofspo...@gmail.com .]
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