In my most surreal dreams I never thought that I'd write these words -- Rush Limbaugh got jobbed!
Now don't get me wrong, I'm glad that the right-wing conservative windbag is gone from his job as a pregame analyst on ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown," but not for the reason that led to his resignation.
I would have much preferred that he be dismissed because of his addiction to painkillers.
I am certain that just about every sports fan knows the story inside and out, but for the sake of those of you who couldn't tell a pigskin from a pig's foot, here's the skinny as to what Limbaugh said on the air before the Bills/Eagles game a few Sundays ago.
"I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL," Limbaugh said. "The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve. The defense carried this team."
Having watched the comments live, I can report to you what the reaction was from the other four hosts of the program. Chris Berman, Tom Jackson, Michael Irvin and Steve Young said nothing, not one word. Both Irvin and Jackson are African-American and are known as men unafraid to offer strong opinions and commentary.
I believe the reason that no one else on the panel challenged Limbaugh on his statement was because they took it the way that I did -- as nonsensical. A look at history shows that, contrary to Rush's statement, the media, if anything, can be charged with harboring the desire that black quarterbacks fail, not succeed. History, by the way, is the operative word in that last sentence, because it has been nearly two decades since Doug Williams led the Washington Redskins to a 42-10 victory over John Elway and the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXII, thereby exploding the myth that black players weren't smart enough to play quarterback.
Years earlier, two players who spent time with the Buffalo Bills -- James Harris and Marlin Briscoe -- were pioneers, being among the first African-American players to take a snap from under center for a National Football League team. The careers of such greats as Randall Cunningham and Warren Moon cemented the notion that a quarterback's success has nothing to do with his skin color and everything to do with his prowess on the field of play.
I remember that the first thought that crossed my mind after Limbaugh spoke was that he didn't have a handle on the current pecking order of NFL quarterbacks. Most knowledgeable fans agree that Michael Vick of the Atlanta Falcons was the MVP of the league last year. Vick happens to be black, as is Tennessee's Steve McNair, who many would argue is a better quarterback than McNabb. For that matter, any Bills fan that got a look at rookie Byron Leftwich of Jacksonville at the end of the Week 2 game, was treated to a preview of a guy who may break a lot of the standing records before he hangs up the cleats for good.
If the media has a racial bias to see a black quarterback succeed, wouldn't it be more pronounced toward Vick or McNair than toward McNabb? That's not even addressing the issue that the press in Philadelphia is much like the press in Buffalo: They love to love a winner and love to roast a loser.
McNabb had gotten off to the worst start of his career over the first two games of this season and was ranked near the bottom of almost all the statistical categories for NFL quarterbacks.
If you think that the Philly press gave him a mulligan because he is black, you probably shouldn't be allowed near the fax machine when those "Five nights in Florida for $50" transmissions come through. The City of Brotherly Love scribes were showing none to the former Syracuse University standout as they insisted that the Buffalo game was a do-or-die game for the Eagles quarterback.
What bothers me most about this whole flap is not what was said during the segment, but everything that's been said since. We live in such politically correct times that the reaction to a perceived offense is to call for the perpetrator's firing instead of demanding equal time to refute the remarks.
Take a look at these comments made in response to Limbaugh's statements:
Democratic presidential hopeful Wesley Clark: "There can be no excuse for such statements. Mr. Limbaugh has the right to say whatever he wants, but ABC and ESPN have no obligation to sponsor such hateful and ignorant speech. Mr. Limbaugh should be fired immediately."
Former Vermont governor Howard Dean: "There is no legitimate place in sports broadcasting for voices that seek to discredit the achievement of athletes on the basis of race."
Rev. Al Sharpton: "I'm going to call for ESPN to terminate Rush Limbaugh as we've seen other networks terminate people for racist remarks in the past. I'm shocked that we're at Wednesday and we have not seen an apology from Mr. Limbaugh. We cannot sit back in silence. That would be consent and we would have lost self-respect."
Wouldn't it have made a much stronger statement for any of these men to have said something like, "I think that Rush Limbaugh is way off-base in his thinking and I demand for ESPN to allow me equal time to offer a counterpoint to his ill-advised comments?"
The bottom line is this: Rush Limbaugh is a blowhard who was hired to create controversy on the ESPN set. The fact that viewer ratings were up 10 percent proves that he was doing his job. Now he can play the role of martyr and won't be challenged publicly to defend his statement, thereby exposing himself as the big, fat football idiot he really is.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | October 14 2003 |