Limbaugh stands by McNabb race remarks

AP | 10/01/03 | ROB MAADDI

[kattracks]

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Rush Limbaugh insisted Wednesday he had "no racist intent whatsoever" in saying the media have overrated the Philadelphia Eagles' Donovan McNabb because they want to see a black quarterback succeed.

In fact, the conservative commentator said he must have been right; otherwise, the comments would not have sparked such outrage.

Limbaugh offered no apology, and McNabb said it was too late for one anyway.

"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 NFL star said. "An apology would do no good because he obviously thought about it before he said it."

Before McNabb led the Eagles to a 23-13 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Limbaugh said on ESPN's pregame show that he did not think McNabb was as good as he was perceived to be.

"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," Limbaugh said. "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."

Limbaugh did not back down during his syndicated radio talk show Wednesday.

He reiterated that he does not think McNabb is a bad player, just that he isn't as good as some members of the media think he is.

"This is such a mountain out of a molehill," he said. "There's no racism here, there's no racist intent whatsoever."

"All this has become the tempest that it is because I must have been right about something," he said. "If I wasn't right there wouldn't be this cacophony of outrage that has sprung up in the sports writer community."

On Wednesday, Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark said Limbaugh should be fired. The retired Army general called the remarks "hateful and ignorant speech."

The NFL disclaimed any responsibility for Limbaugh's remarks.

"ESPN knew what it was getting when they hired Rush Limbaugh," league vice president Joe Browne said. "ESPN selects its on-air talent, not the NFL."

ESPN spokesman Dave Nagle said he did not believe the comments were racially biased. "He was comparing McNabb's performance on the field to his reputation in the media," Nagle said.

Chris Berman, who anchors the ESPN show, said he did not believe Limbaugh's tone or intent was malicious. "As cut and dry as it seems in print, I didn't think so when it went by my ears," he said. "I probably should have looked to soften it."

McNabb, who was runner-up for the MVP award in 2000 and has led the Eagles to two straight conference championship games, said he has no quarrel with Limbaugh's comment on his playing ability. "I know I played badly the first two games," he said.

But McNabb said that the comments about his race were out of bounds and added that someone on the show should have taken Limbaugh on. Among the other panelists were 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 Berman and Steve Young. "I wouldn't have cared if it was the cameraman."

A decade ago, there were few black quarterbacks in the NFL. This season, 10 of the 32 teams will have started black quarterbacks in at least one game.

Limbaugh has helped increase the ratings for "Sunday NFL Countdown." Nagle said ratings are up 10 percent overall. Sunday's show drew its biggest audience in the regular season since 1996.

Limbaugh is the radio host of the politically focused "Rush Limbaugh Show," which is syndicated in more than 650 markets worldwide.

[JohnnyZ]

However, it is irresponsible for him to insert such an inflammatory statement without an opposing view and without having even met the player....

You have no clue what we're talking about, do you? Rush's assertion was two-fold: 1) McNabb is overrated (maybe debatable, but not a controversial opinion) and 2) Sports writers overrate him at least partially because of a desire to see black QBs succeed. (Meeting McNabb has nothing to do with anything.) That second assertion, which is pretty simple and probably would be universally agreed upon were it advanced by a non-conservative, is not even about McNabb, but about the sports writers. You might ask, Has Rush met the sports writers? Peter King at SI (gee, there's a high integrity organization) says all the writers he knows are completely color blind. (Right . . .) But it's very difficult to prove either way, unless Bernie Goldberg were to spend some time looking into it. Knowing the liberal media -- which extends even into sports -- Rush's assertion would seem to be the more believable.

[JohnnyZ]

What is different from what is happening to Rush Limbaugh and what happened to the Dixie Chicks?

Well, the Dixie Chicks, in their position as singers, criticized the President in a foreign country in war time, and suffered a huge fan backlash; Rush made a debatable assertion about some sports writers in his capacity as sports analyst during the NFL season and is being called a racist by opportunist people who have always hated him and who are trying to ruin his career.

You're right, it's the same!

[dwd1]

Just for the sake of argument, let us say that he is not a racist. It is like someone who commits a speeding violation. They broke the law but they are certainly not a criminal. However, if they continue to break the law and not pay their tickets, that is a different matter.

I have heard enough comments from him to know that he tends to take a condescending tone at times toward black people and I am not easily offended...


Perhaps, I could concede that Rush Limbaugh is not a racist but he made a racist statement. I do not believe that he should be defined by this one statement but by his history of statements on racial matters before he be judged. That is why I would love to hear his views on title XI, desegregation, etc...

On the Dixie Chicks issue, I agree that they are different based on your position. I was referring to the similarity that Rush and the Dixie Chicks both made statements that did not necessarily have anything to do with the primary purpose for which they were on camera (although I would admit that he did improve ESPN's ratings)...

Just so we are clear, I do not think he should have quit... I do think he should have stood his ground and created a body of work in sports commentary so that we could see a pattern of objectivity and fairness as opposed to a pattern of insensitivity and race baiting.

I hope he reconsiders...


And as a former serviceman, I have a much greater problem with the Dixie Chicks behavior also.... I have stated on several occassions that they misused their celebrity...

[dwd1]

I also think perhaps Rush would have been more credible if he had stated specifically who was giving this preferential treatment and overrating Donovan McNabb and stating that the specific writer was in error... Then the statement would have been taken as an indictment of a specific writer or group of writers. This was not done. He made a sweeping generalization about the media and all writers and basically accused them of being unprofessional. That is a pretty "out there" thing to do for someone who has been in sports journalism such a short time....

By the way, your point is valid that perhaps he should have met the writers.... My guess is that he does not know that many of them (though they do have conventions so anything is possible)....

Now if he were going to square this thing away and get his job back (I want to see him have an adequate opportunity to do well or fail), I would like to see him in a round table discussion with a variety of sports journalist and let him make specific statements and answer specific questions (Keith Olberman, Jeremy Schaap, Al Michaels, J.A. Adande, and who ever else the top guns in sports broadcasting are)

Otherwise, I think he did a hit and run and did not stand his ground... I may disagree with him but I can respect a person who stands and defends their view in the face of eloquent opposition....

He should have a chance to defend his position as should those he accused of bias...

[John Lenin]

Judge for yourself, McNabbs stats are dreadful, stats through the end of 2003, 14 touchdowns, 41 interceptions.

Career Stats

Bio

Game Logs

Situational Stats

Other Quarterbacks

Team Roster

PASSING

YEAR	TEAM	G	GS	Att	Comp	Pct	Yds	YPA	Lg	TD	Int	Rate
1999	Philadelphia Eagles	12	6	216	106	49.1	948	4.39	63	8	7	60.1
2000	Philadelphia Eagles	16	16	569	330	58.0	3365	5.91	70	21	13	77.8
2001	Philadelphia Eagles	16	16	493	285	57.8	3233	6.56	64	25	12	84.3
2002	Philadelphia Eagles	10	10	361	211	58.4	2289	6.34	59	17	6	86.0
2003	Philadelphia Eagles	3	3	111	55	49.5	506	4.56	27	0	3	51.1
TOTAL		57	51	1750	987	56.4	10341	5.91	70	71	41	77.5

RUSHING

YEAR	TEAM	G	GS	Att	Yds	Avg	TD
1999	Philadelphia Eagles	12	6	47	313	6.7	0
2000	Philadelphia Eagles	16	16	86	629	7.3	6
2001	Philadelphia Eagles	16	16	82	482	5.9	2
2002	Philadelphia Eagles	10	10	63	460	7.3	6
2003	Philadelphia Eagles	3	3	19	156	8.2	0
TOTAL		57	51	297	2040	6.9	14

 

 

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[dwd1]

This is good.... These numbers could be justification for why one could argue that McNabb is overrated...

Detective Friday said it very well...

"Just the Facts, Ma'am, Just the facts"

[dwd1]

This is good.... These numbers could be justification for why one could argue that McNabb is overrated...

Detective Friday said it very well...

"Just the Facts, Ma'am, Just the facts"

I do wish he had appeared on Sportscenter...Might have made a difference in the court of public opinion...

[Samurai_Jack]

The Dixie Chicks was a fan reaction. What is happening to rush is a media assassination.

[steve8714]

So, all is speculation and perhaps a waste of time.
McNabb is still an average QB on a team with a stud defense and run game.

[steve8714]

Jeff blake was a fine QB before the team disintegrated around him. Akili Smith and Shawn King? Please. Neither one is even in McNabb's class. Culpepper and perhaps Leftwich are the real thing. Marlin Briscoe, however, got screwed.

[steve8714]

Dixie Chicks crapped in their drinking water...their problems came from the actual final consumers of their music. Rush Limbaugh's problem comes from the corporate suite. The true irony is that he defends these gutless pukes!

[triplejake]

You're joking right? He has 14 RUSHING touchdowns; 71 passing TDs.

[JohnnyZ]

"Just for the sake of argument, let us say that he is not a racist."

"Perhaps, I could concede that Rush Limbaugh is not a racist but he made a racist statement."

"I do think he should have stood his ground and created a body of work in sports commentary so that we could see a pattern of objectivity and fairness as opposed to a pattern of insensitivity and race baiting."

Sorry, dude, you're out there on the fringe. Explain, just ONCE, how criticizing white sports writers for building up hype based on race is racist. It is, in fact, the opposite. As for "pattern of race baiting" . . . WHAT in the world are you talking about???

[dwd1]

I do not think criticizing anyone for anything is wrong... I ask once again, however, why he do not use specifics or go on SportsCenter and debate the issue...

If people are being hyped for racial reasons, then their credibility should be questioned and their integrity improved....

Something I learned in debate class...

He who asserts must prove...

Show me the evidence that there is such a bias and I am more than willing to listen....

I may or may not be on the fringe but I know sports and I know about racism and I know about conservatism.... We can dance this dance all day long...

I am not going anywhere...

And if Rush had taken that same attitude and engaged those who had a problem with what he said in a position where he was not in control of the mike, he would still have his job and I would still like to see him do that because I don't think this is worth losing a job over....


The principle is what is at stake....

Don't make a statement and then not stand up and debate it in neutral territory...

[dwd1]

I do not think criticizing anyone for anything is wrong... I ask once again, however, why he do not use specifics or go on SportsCenter and debate the issue...

If people are being hyped for racial reasons, then their credibility should be questioned and their integrity improved....

Something I learned in debate class...

He who asserts must prove...

Show me the evidence that there is such a bias and I am more than willing to listen....

I may or may not be on the fringe but I know sports and I know about racism and I know about conservatism.... We can dance this dance all day long...

I am not going anywhere...

And if Rush had taken that same attitude and engaged those who had a problem with what he said in a position where he was not in control of the mike, he would still have his job and I would still like to see him do that because I don't think this is worth losing a job over....


The principle is what is at stake....

Don't make a statement and then not stand up and debate it in neutral territory...

[dwd1]

Those who have heard Rush Limbaugh speak could argue that he has an attitude similar to Trent Lott... We will talk to your top 5% (best educated, most successful) but other than that, you are a useless people... This is the perception shared by many regarding his positions on race... I have said many times that he tends (IMO) to jump to the worst conclusion about black people in his radio shows and it does get trying when he is discussing other issues where I agree 1000% with what he says...

I would like to see him stay on ESPN simply because he could learn a lesson and find a better way to present his views because his analysis of sports has been reasonably accurate.... He simply needs to learn to compartmentalize a little better...

If he walks away from this, he is showing that he does not have the courage to defend his views unless he is control of the mike...

[dwd1]

Seems like a pretty fair assessment...

[JohnnyZ]

You still have not shown ANYTHING to back up YOUR statement that what Rush said was racist.

Nothing.

If people are being hyped for racial reasons, then their credibility should be questioned and their integrity improved....

If people are being hyped for racial reasons, the fault lies in those doing the hyping and has nothing to do with the hypee.

[Paulus Invictus]

He did not serve his country in Kosovo. He served the UN and the Felon and the Felon fired him. On the Felon's orders, Clark also killed a lot of innocent civilians in Serbia.

[Paulus Invictus]

I hope not! Rush is a true conservative and does know his football. We need him as one of the major voices against the RATS and the chaos they bring to politics and the Nation!