How the NFL Gets Race Right (and Rush Gets it Wrong)

Poor Rush Limbaugh. His dream of one day owning and trading Negro men has been shattered by the liberal media, which keeps making up lies about him. Lies, I tell you! The wingnutosphere insists: Rush has never, ever made a racist comment! Ever!

Except for this one. And this one. And this one. And this one. And this one. And this one. And this one. And this one. And this one. And this one. And this one. And this one. And this one, and this one, and this one, and this one, and this one and this one, and this one, and this one and this one.

And, of course, this one:

When Donovan McNabb led his team to the Super Bowl in 2005, Rush claimed the defense had carried him; all the credit given to McNabb, he said, was just "social hope."

What Rush and his defenders would have us do is "define down" racism to the sole criteria of the n-word. Rush is too smart to use it, but his sophistry encourages racial divisions all the time.

There couldn't be a worse fit for an ownership stake in the National Football League, which takes diversity issues seriously. One look at the huddle and you can see why:

Seconds on the clock with victory or defeat just yards away is no time for disputes. As former Alabama coach and Huffington Post blogger Bill Curry once explained in the ESPN documentary series Autumn Ritual, all external values disappear in the huddle and character takes over. At the snap, all eleven men must execute with unified precision or the whole enterprise breaks down. This is why you see so many college and high school teams holding hands before the big play -- without regard to the color of the hands.

Victory takes the total of each player and leaves the talent of none behind. As a result, professional football is an inherently leveling game. Conservative George Will once described the game as a "mistake" combining the two worst aspects of the 20th Century: organized violence and committee meetings. He might as well have added "equal opportunity" to the mix.

There once was a dearth of black NFL quarterbacks, but Doug Williams shattered that barrier with a Super Bowl win in 1988 and the league has never looked back. In making those divisive comments about McNabb, Rush injected racial animosity into a sport that has long ago outgrown such thinking. Evolved, you might say.

When the NFL lacked minority head coaches, the league required all teams to interview at least one minority candidate for open jobs. Not hire, mind you -- just interview. The results are Tony Dungy, Mike Singletary, and Mike Tomlin.

These "liberal" tendencies surpass race. With profit-sharing to keep smaller-market teams competitive, salary caps, and an emphasis on parity, the NFL is far more of a "socialist" organization than, say, baseball. Not only is Rush's rhetorical record a bad fit for the league's personnel policies, his corporatist economic tendencies would be a better match for the major leagues, which are a "free market" affair by comparison.

Nor does the Limbaugh narrative of evil, politically-correct media square with actual events. When news of Limbaugh's interest broke, NFL players were the first to speak out, and not "state run media scum," as Rush would have listeners believe.

Indeed, reaction across the league was uniformly negative, with the players union and the NFL commissioner joining in throughout the day before the media even began replaying Limbaugh's racist commentary.

Contrary to the narrative he has invented and stovepiped through the right-wing blogs, Limbaugh was rejected by professional football. The NFL didn't need the media's help to know what he is. The McNabb debacle wasn't so long ago the league would forget it. Limbaugh wants to climb on a martyr's cross, but the crucifix just doesn't fit.

There is another context: Limbaugh has been here before. This is not the first time "political correctness" has taken the blame for the death of his dreams. After his television show was canned for low ratings, Limbaugh embarked on his decade-long Oxycontin bender. By the late 1990s, he whined when other right-wing talk radio hosts outdid him with Vince Foster-conspiracy nonsense.

He's a new man now. Vowing never to be left behind again, he launched into the Obama administration with full force, and in the wake of this NFL failure he's fighting back with every bit of hatemongering energy he possesses. It's his inevitable psychological pattern. Remember his speech to the CPAC conference?

Now, about my still-to-me mysteriously controversial comment that I hope President Obama fails. I was watching the Super Bowl. And as you know, I love the Pittsburgh Steelers. [Cheers and Applause] So they have this miraculous scoring drive that puts them up by four, 15 seconds left. Kurt Warner on the field for the Cardinals. And I sure as heck want you to know I hope he failed. I did not want the Cardinals to win. I wanted Warner to make the biggest fool of himself possible. I wanted a sack, I wanted anything. I wanted the Steelers to win. I wanted to win. I wanted the Cardinals to fail.

There could be no better, clearer example of identity politics at work. Our national success is not a game; national failure affects every American. Limbaugh, on the other hand, sees America as divided into competing tribal identities -- and likes it that way. Conservatism succeeded for forty years by driving such wedges in the politics of divide and conquer.

Meanwhile, the NFL has worked diligently to become what it is: a success that transcends any one team. America has become what it is, and that is a nation no longer so vulnerable to the politics of division. The league has managed to reflect a changing America even as Limbaugh has stayed willfully, contemptuously behind.

This failure is Limbaugh's alone, and he's still not able to man-up and deal with it. That's a perfectly good reason why he shouldn't own any part of a league franchise. This sport is for the tough, not the whiny.

Osborne Ink is a Website of Media Deconstruction

 

Follow Matt Osborne on Twitter: www.twitter.com/OsborneInk

Comments

[KWB1]

The one group that everybody seems to be ignoring in this is...the African-American players. It became very obvious that a groundswell of players refusing to play on a team that had anything to do with that idiot Rush was beginning. NFL mgmt isn't stupid.

[Matt Osborne - Huffpost Blogger]

Exactly.

[Jaal Azell]

I'm quite confused. I've linked to all of the "examples" that you've given in you article and can't find one that's actually racist. Now, being black, I consider myself somewhat of an expert on the subject of racism. Just so I'm up to speed, could you, or someone in here who's posted on this thread explain to me what's racist about the items that you've decided to cite in this post, of course all from the same partisan source.

If my post doesn't appear because I'm challenging your assertion of what racism is, should I consider its omission racism?

[Matt Osborne - Huffpost Blogger]

First of all, the links provided are audio recordings of Limbaugh. Just because MediaMatters is the one recording his words doesn't make the recordings suspect. This is Rush Limbaugh being Rush Limbaugh, captured on digital media and preserved for anyone to hear. No alteration is involved and context is given.

Second, "We are being told that we have to hope he succeeds, that we have to bend over, grab the ankles ... because his father was black" is a racist comment. Calling Obama an "angry black guy"..."He's a bad guy. He's one angry guy. His wife is angry as well" is not only racist, it's ludicrous. "[I]n Obama's America, the white kids now get beat up with the black kids cheering" was a pretty wild statement, too. And referring to Obama's agenda as "reparations" is really, really special.

If you cannot see the implicit racist hatemongering in those statements, then you're just being dishonest and obtuse.

[MixinUpMedicine]

His latest is to throw Dave Checketts under the bus for claiming there would be no "firestorm" about Rush's involvement. "Hey folks, it's not my fault, it's Checketts' for promising something he couldn't deliver."

The fact is, Rush got rejected by the free market. You can have the biggest radio show in the country, but it's still a small percentage of the public. Rush thinks he's big because he's gotten a very small demographic to like him a whole lot, but he's just the biggest fish in the small pond.

[MixinUpMedicine]

I was wrong, I saw this article that had more of his comments from today.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/10/15/limbaugh.ap/index.html

he's blaming it on "Obama's America" just like those 2 kids who beat up another kid on the school bus (which nearly happened to me in junior high, and race had nothing to do w/ it, we were both white).

"Yes folks, the NFL is getting dangerously liberal. The Democrats are moving into the NFL and ruining the game!!! And no one else will tell you that folks, except your pal Rush..."

Cuz there's no truth to any of this bunk, but feeds his complex and garners sympathy from his listeners if its true, and more importantly feeds their fears and keeps their rapt attn.

[Matt Osborne - Huffpost Blogger]

He's presented a whitewashed version of his record. How many will buy it?

[davemartin7777]

Rush Limbaugh can't be racist!

Any perception of racism by a right-winger is simply imaginary.

The right can't be racist, since the right-wing says there is no such thing as racism by the right-wing.

Only minorities, liberals and Democrats can be racist, but not Republicans and the right-wing.

That, of course allows the right-wing to be as racist as they want, since right-wing racism doesn't exist.

[Sean68]

This is a general question:

Shouldn't a racist be allowed to make a living? Should Wal-Mart be allowed to hire a racist? And who's allowed to decide who's a racist and who isn't? Can any of you appreciate what a bullshit game this is?

[Sean68]

I'd like to fill the joke in here myself: Making a living? At Wal-Mart?

[postman66]

Limbaugh is making a substantial living. Being in the NFL is not some guaranteed right.

[gypsy508]

Rush isn't allowed to make a living? You mean he got fired from his radio program?

[mltaylor13pt1]

Owning an NFL team is a privilege, not a right. You simply cannot have someone who is such a divisive figure in charge of a franchise. It would be PR nightmare. Players would refuse to play for or again a Rush owned team, fans and sponsors would boycott. Actually, that wouldn't happen because the other owners would never agree to it because they don't want anything that negatively affects their bottom line.

[Sean68]

How come Isiah Thomas was allowed to coach an NBA team after stating that Larry Bird--the best player on the best team (along with the Lakers) of the 1980's--would be considered just another good player if he weren't black. For the record, he was agreeing with an earlier statement about Bird made by Dennis Rodman. Is Isiah Thomas a racist, too?

[postman66]

Because he apologized to Bird and the league. America is big on atonement, Rush isn't.

[Sean68]

Did he? Do you have a link? But that's all it takes? An apology after pressure is applied for saying something he no doubt truly believes? Doubtful. In any case, in the game of race, the Left takes NO prisoners. Did Thomas also apologize for allegedly saying, according to former Knicks exec Anucha Brown Sanders, that he didn't care about the white "mutherfuckas" who held season tickets to Knicks games? Now, unlike most of the mainstream media, I will point out that this comment was ALLEGEDLY made, even though Thomas has never to the best of my knowledge denied saying it.

[Sean68]

Also, the question was: Is Thomas a racist for thinking that Larry Bird is overrated because he was white?

[yogandclimber]

Limbaugh wasn't banned to buy the team.... the other buyers excluded him. I would exclude him too, not because of censorship, but because it's a bad idea. Would anyone buy a team with him? Isiah was allowed to coach because he made a mistake, he doesn't have a history or following of racists. Everyone know's Limbaugh is racist and he phrases things in public so that can be controversial.

[Wendy Johnson]

Larry Bird's white.

http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/31/69131-004-145FB1CE.jpg

Maybe you got your story wrong?

[S1m0n]

Limbaugh's audience thinks racism is a word taboo. If you say the bad word, you're a racist, no matter what you said. If you don't say the bad word, you can say whatever you like, and that's not racism. Yes, this is grade-school level thinking, but that's what they know.

Thinking critically about a statement to decide if the thought being expressed is racist, or not, is beyond them. That's too complicated and too vague. They think it's nothing but minorities whining or playing the race card.

This is why you, and they, can read the same quotes or watch the clips and draw totally contradictory conclusions about what they're seeing.

[dfranz]

There is a lot that's good about the Limbaugh rejection.

1. He and his ilk find out that there are consequences to what you say and do in public.

2. This tells the bigots of our society that although it might be perfectly acceptable with your racist friends, racism and hate speech are not acceptable to the vast majority of society.

The discourse in the country has become ugly ever since Obama was nominated. He is a man who can help heal the open wounds in our society that have stubbornly refused to heal. People like Rush Limbaugh are openly saying things that would be taboo just a few years ago and are striving to prevent that healing by demonizing the President and anyone not marching lockstep wth them.

I'm as happy about this as Limbaugh was about the Olympic bid being given to Brazil.

[Matt Osborne - Huffpost Blogger]

"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."

"Social concern." "Desirous that a black quarterback do well." "Hope invested."

What does that say, if not "he's overrated because he's black"? Mind you, at the time McNabb had already been to the Pro Bowl three times with two consecutive NFC championship games. Limbaugh was injecting race into a subject where it had not existed as an issue until he said it. If that's not playing racial politics, then I don't know what is.

Just because you don't use the n-word doesn't mean you aren't a racist.

[yogandclimber]

I agree. There is no misinterpretation... Limbaugh is saying that McNabb was overrated because he was black. The way you interpret it is exactly the way Limbaugh wants his followers to interpret it. Then Limbaugh goes out to the masses who think it's racist, a lot of them are Republicans, and says he's been misunderstood and some people actually believe him.

[HSmith]

Janet Jackson had a better chance at another half-time show than that clown had of becoming an owner of a NFL francise. That guy is bad for any businesses that want a diverse clientel...Take your hate money back and spend it with like minds.....

[Matt Osborne - Huffpost Blogger]

I suppose that in the minds of his defenders, Limbaugh is okay because he didn't flash his nipple onscreen. Hate language is okay, a nipple is cause for Congressional hearings.

[flacon]

Please help me understand. I read and reread Rush's comment about McNabb and do not see racism. I see an opinion voiced by someone hired to voice his opinions publicly. Additionally, that was an opinion shared by many people with knowledge of football.

[Matt Osborne - Huffpost Blogger]

Above comment meant in response, sorry.

[MixinUpMedicine]

No, it wasn't shared by many people w/ knowledge of football. There were at least 5 other people w/ "knowledge of football" on the set that day when Rush made his racist screed and NOT ONE OF THEM AGREED W/ LIMBAUGH. In fact, they explained why McNabb was as good as advertised to his face. I was watching that day.

In fact, they didn't even consider the racial aspect of his comment, they jumped too quickly on whether or not McNabb was a good QB.