Rush Limbaugh And Larry Johnson, Cut From The Same Cloth

A few weeks ago, it made headlines that Rush Limbaugh was interested in purchasing the St. Louis Rams along with St. Louis Blues hockey team owner Dave Checketts.  Limbaugh's interest in the NFL team sparked a controversy based on Limbaugh's past racist statements.

In 2003, Limbaugh worked on ESPN's NFL pregame show but he resigned after making a comment that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated.  Despite McNabb going to three straight Pro Bowls and two consecutive NFC championship games, as well as runner-up for NFL MVP in his first full season as a starter, Limbaugh saw differently.  "Sorry to say this, I don't think he's been that good from the get-go," he 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."  ESPN later released an official statement in which Limbaugh had stated his comments had "no racist intent whatsoever".  He even argued his point was correct, otherwise it would not have caused such outrage.

On Limbaugh's show in 2007, he made another off color remark: "The NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it."

These comments drew attention to his bid, bringing prominent figures such as Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson to protest Limbaugh's bid.  Executive director of the NFL Players Association, DeMaurice Smith, pressed players to speak out against Limbaugh's bid.  All of a sudden, Limbaugh's bid turned into a political struggle between left and right.  Jeff Poor at Newsbusters.org points out that liberal anchor Kieth Olbermann doubles as a sportscaster NBC's Sunday night NFL broadcast for the pre-game and halftime shows, and "he certainly has said some very bad things about conservatives over the years," forgetting what exactly Limbaugh had said in the first place to rile everybody up.  Those against the conservative pundit were part of the liberal media and only sought to deny a righteous white man what he deserved, with there being a double standard in the NFL, because this situation would surely not happen against one of their own, right?  Wrong.

Larry Johnson had spent several years with the Kansas City Chiefs before the team released him on November 9th for posting slurs on his Twitter page about his coach, the fans, and homosexuals.  As expected, Johnson issued an apology.  ESPN has reported that Johnson hasn't been officially suspended, but options will be considered pending an investigation into Johnson's actions.  Until then, he is not allowed to practice or participate in team activities.

So it looks like Limbaugh is not the only one who gets in trouble for making public statements.