October 01, 2003
Limbaugh Vs. McNabb
Looks Like Rush Limbaugh is delivering just what ESPN was looking for when it hired him. By now, I'm sure most of everyone has heard this quote from Sunday's ESPN NFL Countdown pre-game show, where Limbaugh went after Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb:
I don't think he's been that good from the get-go," Limbaugh said. "I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. 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."
This morning, McNabb fired back:
Donovan McNabb isn’t looking for an apology from Rush Limbaugh, who said he was overrated because the media wanted to see a black quarterback succeed.
It’s too late for that. “He said what he said. ... I’m sure he’s not the only one that feels that way but it’s somewhat shocking to actually hear that on national TV,” the Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback said of Limbaugh at a news conference Wednesday. “An apology would do no good because he obviously thought about it before he said it.”
While McNabb concedes that he played poorly the first two games of the season, he was disappointed nobody on the ESPN set said anything to challenge Limbaugh:
He said today that Limbaugh’s comments about his race were out of bounds and added that someone on the show should have taken him on. Among the other panelists are former players Michael Irvin and Tom Jackson, both of whom are black.
“I’m not pointing at anyone but someone should have said it,” McNabb said of the panelists, who also include Chris Berman and Steve Young. “I wouldn’t have cared if it was the cameraman.”
Know this my friends, if ESPN hadn't canned Sterling Sharpe before this season, he would have been climbing over the set to get a piece of Limbaugh.
As for the substance of his remarks, I've got a bone to pick with El Rushbo. First, over the past several seasons, McNabb has been the only skill player on offense worth his salt in a Philadelphia Eagles uniform.
Everyone else, be it Duce Staley, Todd Pinkston, Chad Lewis, Antonio Freeman, etcetera, ad infinatum, has been inconsistent or underperformed. Yes, the Eagles might have managed to go 5-1 while McNabb was injured last season, but it should be pretty clear that the team just isn't the same without him.
As to Limbaugh's contention that the defense carried the team in the past, he may have a point. Over time, the Eagles simply haven't reloaded on defense as top performers like Jeremiah Trotter and Hugh Douglas have fled for better contracts elsewhere. By dint of their play this season, the talent drain has finally reached critical mass.
As to Limbaugh's final contention, that the press is going easy on McNabb and giving him too much credit because of his race, I just don't see it. As to whether or not Limbaugh's contention is racist, I don't think so.
According to a flash over at Drudge, this story is breaking big over CNN, and Limbaugh felt the need to defend himself on the air today:
"We supposedly have freedom of speech in this country," Limbaugh explained on his radio program. "An opinion is an opinion."
Stay tuned. This isn't going to die down too quickly.
UPDATE: UPDATE: USA Today's Rudy Martzke took Limbaugh to task this morning for his comments, but made sure to include the numbers that I'd been waiting to see from ESPN:
With conservative talk show host Limbaugh and Michael Irvin the newcomers among the lineup, ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown has jumped 10% from last year to a 2.2% of ESPN's 87.7 million cable homes.
Sunday's show earned a 2.4 rating, its highest in three years, with the audience of 2.1 million homes the show's best in nearly seven years.
Back when ESPN announced Limbaugh's hiring, I said it had better than an even chance of working -- something a portion of my readers scoffed at. You can read my original comments here and here.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Peter King of Sports Illustrated takes Limbaugh at his word and dissects it.
YET ANOTHER UPDATE: Democratic Presidential candidate Wesley Clark has called on ABC, ESPN's parent company, to fire Limbaugh.
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Tracked on October 2, 2003 03:19 PM
I think it was a racist comment.
Calling McNabb overrated is fair ball. If Limbaugh can make that case, fine. It is done all the time in the sports media. But that case should be made based on his accomplishments (or lack of them) on the field.
To say that McNabb is overrated because he is black is the suggestion that crosses the line.
I wish Sharpe had been on the panel. Somebody should have gone "Whoooa!"
Tom
Posted by:
at October 1, 2003 02:54 PM
Of course it is not racist. Sure, it may an idiotic opinion, and it may be bad form to say it, but I can't see what's racist about it.
As for Rush claiming freedom of speech, well that includes the freedom to criticize your opnion Rush, and call you an idiot.
Posted by:
at October 1, 2003 03:35 PM
On the merits, I'd say the defense and McNabb have carried the Eagles the last few years - the rest of the offense has barely belonged in the league. Whether McNabb has (or will) recovered from last seasons' injury is an open question.
Given Limbaugh's history, it's hard to give him a pass on dragging race into the conversation. I can assure him there's nothing in Philadelphia's sporting (or civic) history that should make any thinking person expect McNabb to get a pass on anything because he's African American.
And typical of Limbaugh to define his freedom of speech as forbidding anyone else to express their opinion on his.
The Fox pregame suits me just fine, thanks. A free market solution.
Posted by:
at October 1, 2003 03:56 PM
Of course it is racist. Extend his argument. Why would the liberal football media single out McNabb if they want to give a boost to black coaches and quarterbacks?
If Limbaugh said that all black coaches and all black quarterbacks are overrated because the media wants them to do well, would that be racist?
Why is this different?
Tom
Posted by:
at October 1, 2003 06:10 PM
I think folks are missing the point just a little. There are two distinct issues here, one about McNabb and one about the media.
Rush's comment about McNabb is that he wasn't as good as he has been made out to be, i.e., one of the best QBs in the NFL. That's a matter of opinion, which most everyone, myself included, think Rush is just plain wrong about. Time will tell if Rush is prescient in his opinion or just a tad to anxious to be provocative. There's nothing racist about his opinion of McNabb.
Rush's comment about the media that they coddled McNabb because they have a vested interest in seeing a black QB succeed is, IMHO, similarly wrong, but not racist. If Rush were right, the media in general would still be making apologies for Tony Banks because he's a black QB too. Anyone who pays attention to the media knows that there is a sense of political correctness that permeates everything that makes it tough sometimes to be honest, sometimes brutally honest when it comes to race. Again, I really don't think the media has coddled McNabb because there's been no need to. Rush has just connected a few too many dots and carried his generally accurate perceptions about some aspects of our culture a little too far.
But look at the way many have immediately jumped up and labelled this opinion as racist. It may be wrong, but that doesn't mean it is racist. If Rush loses his gig on ESPN because of it, that's another nail in the coffin of anyone ever being able to speak out on matters of race again. You want to talk about crushing of dissent? PC is the new McCarthyism.
Posted by:
at October 1, 2003 07:45 PM
I also wonder if what those calling for Limbaugh's dismissal for what some consider racist remarks also called for Dusty Baker's dismissal for what everyone agrees were racist remarks. That's the sort of thing Rush was alluding to concerning the double standard of the media, though again, I think he is wrong in the substance of his arguments. Wrong, but not racist.
Posted by:
at October 1, 2003 07:50 PM
If Limbaugh doesn't get canned for this, it's another example of the media being controlled by the neo-cons.
Jesus, people, wake up, it will only get worse.
Posted by:
at October 1, 2003 11:21 PM
I know I'm late to the party (been on the road), but does anyone remember if Isiah Thomas got sacked when he said Larry Bird was overrated because he was white? Sure, he's more valuable than rush, but still.
I'm not a fan of Limbaugh, but I don't think it was a racist comment. I'm glad he's gone though, as I like to watch sports to forget about politics, except for the usual nationalism associated with the Olympics.
Posted by:
at October 2, 2003 09:03 PM
Race is not real. You are all fools for playing this game.
Posted by:
at October 3, 2003 02:56 PM
I think it was Dennis Rodman who complained that if Bird were black, he would just be another player. Reading through old issues of SI, I get the impression that the controversy Rodman elicited was minor. I don't recall anything happening to him as a result.
Posted by:
at October 4, 2003 07:33 AM
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