from Fox Sports 

By JASON WHITLOCK

It's a publicity stunt Roger Goodell should've shut down within minutes of its launch.

Rush Limbaugh as NFL owner is an unfunny joke. But the kingpin of talk radio counted on the sarcasm to fly over most of our heads and for television executives to ignore the absurdity and milk the controversy for ratings.

What he didn't know is how the NFL commissioner would react.

Well, now we have our disappointing answer. Given an opportunity to add equal-opportunity credibility to his clean-up-the-image-of-the-league campaign, Goodell has stood motionless on a busy airport runway.

And here come the Left Brothers — Al "747" Sharpton and Jesse "DC 10" Jackson — barreling in for a landing on top of Goodell's dome. And this time every black person with an ounce of common sense and self-respect is riding shotgun with Jesse and Al, who have justifiably voiced their displeasure with Limbaugh's ownership bid.

I'm not mad at Limbaugh. He expresses no shame to the game he's been running for two decades. He's an opportunistic, race-baiting, anti-black entertainer. The popularity of the gangsta element of hip-hop music culture has allowed Limbaugh to proudly claim that his form of entertainment is mainstream. 

I'd say we're less than 24 hours from Limbaugh playing the Jay-Z card. Brother Jay owns a piece of the New Jersey Nets and has a library of rap tunes spewing the same kind of black-degrading lyrics, phrases and stereotypes that have made Limbaugh rich enough to buy a chunk of the St. Louis Rams.

This is a brilliant publicity stunt. After taking down challenger Sean Hannity during the election season, Limbaugh is now in an ultimate fight with Glenn Beck for the prestigious and lucrative crown of right-wing racial divider.

Having failed as an NFL commentator, Limbaugh understands the power of football. He realized announcing his intention to buy the Rams would feed the sports and political talk-show monsters. He figured if things hit just right, he might land the cover of Sports Illustrated and ESPN The Magazine.

He never had a doubt that he'd smoke out Al Sharpton.

I spent last week and this weekend dodging this issue. People asked me via e-mail and Facebook if I had an opinion, and I declined to comment. My boss at FOXSports.com begged me to write a column, and I told him I had nothing to add to the discussion.

I didn't want to play Limbaugh's game. This is a (freaking) publicity stunt. I assumed that Goodell would quickly put an end to this lunacy.

In the name of improving the image of the NFL, Goodell has smacked every black and white player who has crossed paths with law enforcement.

Rush Limbaugh would be devastating to the NFL brand. Just as it has in the past seven days, his style of racial politics would upset employees and take attention away from the games.

This is the major difference between Rush and Jay-Z. Beyonce's boyfriend raps a bunch of dumb, racist, sexist (spit) but serious people don't take Jay-Z or his music seriously. Jay's expression of self-hatred does not bother NBA players, NBA fans or remotely overshadow what transpires on the court.

That would not be the case for Limbaugh. He would be a nightmare. He would make Marge Schott seem like Jimmy Carter, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X rolled into one package.

Here are two quotes attributed to Limbaugh in a 2006 book, "101 People Who Are Really Screwing America," by Jack Huberman.

  • "You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray (Dr. King's assassin). We miss you, James. Godspeed."
  • "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."

I received an e-mail from Limbaugh or one of his employees Tuesday morning somewhat disputing the authenticity of the quotes.

The e-mail reads: "We've sourced the quote," then cites a wikiquotes entry: "These quotations are currently being disputed because the author of the book did not provide air dates for the original source material quoted."

Limbaugh claimed on his radio show Monday that his staff could not find any proof that he ever joked about slavery. I'm sorry. Limbaugh doesn't get the benefit of the doubt on racial matters. He's earned a fortune with racial satire. He knows what he's doing. You can argue the comments are presented out of context and were meant as jokes. Then I'd argue that Limbaugh needs to get on the comedy-club circuit and out of the business of attempting to influence presidential politics. Limbaugh wants to be taken seriously.

OK, let me bring Goodell's hypocrisy all the way home.

 

Do you think Goodell would allow Michael Vick to go on radio and crack jokes about dogs?

"Let's face it, I didn't dogfight for several years because it was a bad thing. Quite the opposite: We made a lot of money with Bad Newz Kennels. I'm not saying I'd do it again. I'm just saying it had its merits. For one thing, there was a lot less dog poop on the streets."

If Michael Vick said those words on radio, Goodell would rebuke Vick's comments within minutes and kick him out of the NFL within 24 hours.

We all know the atrocities of human slavery. Can an NFL owner with 30 to 40 black players and a 10 percent black fan base make a living cracking jokes about the abuse and torture of black people?

It's unfortunate and troubling that Roger Goodell needs time to think about this.

I wish I could say it's surprising. It's always easiest to castigate, penalize and shun the people outside your group. Goodell primarily represents a consortium of rich white men who apparently can't quite muster the courage to stand up to one of their own.

You can e-mail Jason at BallState0@aol.com or find him on Facebook at facebook.com/jasonwhitlock.