Rush Limbaugh's racist chickens have come home to roost. With significant opposition mounting inside and outside the NFL, the ownership group headed by Dave Checketts dropped him from the group attempting to purchase the NFL's St. Louis Rams
"It has become clear that his involvement in our group has become a complication and a distraction to our intentions; endangering our bid to keep the team in St. Louis," Checketts said. "As such, we have decided to move forward without him and hope it will eventually lead us to a successful conclusion."
24 of the league's 32 owners would have had to approve any sale to Limbaugh and his group. Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay predicted that Limbaugh's potential bid would be met by significant opposition.
"I, myself, couldn’t even consider voting for him," Irsay said from the NFL owners meeting currently taking place in Boston. "When there are comments that have been made that are inappropriate, incendiary and insensitive ... our words do damage, and it’s something that we don’t need."
Several NFL players have also voiced their displeasure with Limbaugh's potential ownership position along with NFL Players Association head DeMaurice Smith.Smith has also urged players to speak out against Limbaugh's bid.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has also commented on the potential Limbaugh ownership as well
"I have said many times before that we are all held to a higher standard here. I think divisive comments are not what the NFL is all about. I would not want to see those kind of comments from people who are in a responsible position within the NFL. No. Absolutely not."
Rush of course is going to spin it as the 'mean old liberals' are ganging up on his Oxycontin popping behind. The facts are that it's his big mouth that cost him a shot at owning a piece of an NFL team, and I and a lot of people are very happy about that.
Exhibit A:
* "Look, let me put it to you this way: The NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it."Exhibit B:
* "I mean, let's face it, 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."
Exhibit C:
* "The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in (Donovan) McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve."
And I won't even bring up the reams of other hateful crap Rush has said about African-Americans, liberal progressives, and other POC and laughed all the way to the bank for saying it.
The bottom line is that the NFL didn't want or need a Marge Schott for the new millennium. The NFL is still getting over the racist legacy of the late Washington Redskin owner George Preston Marshall. He refused to allow African-American players on his team until 1962, and only because then Interior Secretary Stewart Udall threatened to revoke the team's 30 year lease on RFK Stadium if he didn't.
The NFL has recently been cracking down on the shady behavior of players. The last thing Commissioner Goodell needed was to have a NFL owner who on an almost daily basis has a radio show in which he makes jacked up racist and sexist statements.