Rush Limbaugh an NFL Owner? Don't Count On It

Rush Limbaugh will never be an NFL owner because the other NFL owners will not allow it. Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay already has stepped up and stated he would not approve of Limbaugh being an owner of the St. Louis Rams.

The funny thing is, people are getting too ahead of themselves in actually believing that Roger Goodell would approve of an ownership group that includes Limbaugh. At this point in time it's really not an issue of whether Limbaugh is going to be a part owner of the Rams because as of now the team is not for sale.

Now, that doesn't mean in the future that the team won't be on the market. But at this point, it's purely speculation. If the Rams do go for sale then that's when Goodell must step in and state clearly to Limbaugh: "You will never own an NFL team."

It's as simple as that! There's nothing Limbaugh can do if Goodell or the other NFL owners do not approve of the offer.

Southern Man wrote a piece titled "A Rush to Judgment: Should the NFL Ban Rush Limbaugh's Bid?"

In it, Southern Man poses an interesting question in which he asks, "Indeed, how does denying Mr. Limbaugh the free market right to purchase a team reject discrimination and hatred?"

There's faulty reasoning in the question because the NFL is not a free market. Neither is the NBA, NHL, MLB, PGA, etc. They are private corporations that have a right to make sure they have what best fits their image.

Rejecting Limbaugh's bid isn't about hatred or discrimination. It's about what the NFL sees as protecting its image. Roger Goodell has tried cleaning up the league's image after a bevy of players have been in trouble with the law.

There have been more penalties handed down to players than I have ever seen since Goodell took over as commissioner.

If Limbaugh's bid were to be accepted, it would bring negative publicity to the NFL again.

Now, is it fair that there's a controversy regarding Limbaugh's potential association with the NFL? Yes and rightly so.

As Southern man also pointed out in comments made by Matthias Kiwanuka to the New York Daily News, there are players who would not play for the Rams if Limbaugh became part of the team's ownership.

He also mentions Nick Dewitt who claims "Mr. Limbaugh is not the kind of owner the NFL wants."

Going further into that article written by Southern Man is the notion that Limbaugh is a racist. He defines what racism is and then uses examples of what Limbaugh has stated, specifically the infamous quote in regards to Donovan McNabb.

The problem is that, as I mentioned before, the fact he believes that the NFL is taking away the right of Limbaugh because the league is a free market.

The NFL is not a free market. They have the right to accept or reject any bid.

Just ask the man trying to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes. He wanted to move the team to Canada, but the NHL took the bidder to court so the Coyotes would stay in Phoenix.

In the end the court ruled that the NHL has the power to approve whoever they'd like as owner, but the court also believed that another bidder, who wanted to keep the team in Phoenix, bid too low. Eventually, both bids were rejected.

From a site called newsone.com they have a list of 10 comments made by Limbaugh that you could easily be deemed as racist. Here's the list of 9 of those comments: 

9. I think the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well.  They’re interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well.  I think there’s a little hope invested in McNabb and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he really didn’t deserve.

8. Take that bone out of your nose and call me back (to an African American female caller).

7. They’re 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares?

6. The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies.

5. 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.

4. Right. So you go into Darfur and you go into South Africa, you get rid of the white government there. You put sanctions on them. You stand behind Nelson Mandela—who was bankrolled by communists for a time, had the support of certain communist leaders. You go to Ethiopia. You do the same thing.

3. Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?

2. You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray [the confessed assassin of Martin Luther King]. We miss you, James. Godspeed.

1. 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.

Going further, Goodell has already made a statement to the Washington Post. “I’ve said many times before we’re all held to a high standard here," he said. "I think divisive comments are not what the NFL is all about.”

What is the definition of what Limbaugh does? He makes divisive comments every day on his news program and it's not something the NFL needs, wants, or tolerates. Therefore by Goodell's definition, Limbaugh is not a worthy candidate to be an owner.

By the way, if there's an argument about the McNabb comments not being racist, then why did Limbaugh resign?

Smart players all across the league may not want to play for a Limbaugh-owned team. Look at the comments Limbaugh made about Michael J. Fox, accusing him of lying about his condition. Fox has Parkinson's Disease. 

Limbaugh was attacking Fox because he believed that Fox was over-medicating himself. He said Fox's symptoms would look worse on a campaign commercial for a democrat in Missouri who supports stem cell research, which of course, Limbaugh does not.

What if there was a player on the Rams who was injured on a play that didn't look too severe, but that player is unable to practice beause of the injury?

Will Limbaugh question that player's commitment to the team? Will he call him a liar? Will he call him a wimp? Will he call him out for acting? 

Really, it's not about whether Limbaugh is a republican or democrat. It's about what he stands for and what he has said and done over his time on the air.

Limbaugh has proven his ignorance with his statements. He has proven that he is a racist.

He is not, and nor will he ever be, a good fit as an owner for a professional team.