"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."Ok, so in Rush's opinion McNabb is overrated. No problem there. He feels the Eagle's recent success is more attributed to their defense. No problem there. He also feels that McNabb is being hyped by a media that is hungry to have a black star quaterback in the NFL. Well, could be. Personally, I'm not a big football fan so I'm not sure just how hyped McNabb is. Should there be a problem with Rush's comment? No, not at all. He prefaced his statement with two powerful words: "I think."
Donovan McNabb is a very popular quaterback and his fans, and Donovan himself, are probably going to take exception to any comment that attributes Donovan's success to anything other than his talent. So, aside from the obvious disagreement from McNabb fans that Donovan is the real deal the big question is going to be, "Is Rush Limbaugh a racist?"
No, I don't think so at all. He's not advocating that McNabb is inferior because of his skin color, he's not even saying anything about blacks in general.
What he's talking about is the media's over-sensitivity to minorities and their tendency to gush over them. This is obviously something that Rush perceives in our media and is an observation I often make as well. Rush is only wondering if the media would be so enamoured with a white quaterback who had performed as McNabb has.The media, of course, will make a big deal about this. Rush is so outspoken and often critical that many media outlets will perceive this as the perfect context in which to get back at him. Hopefully it will blow over quickly and Rush will get to keep his job at ESPN.
Limbaugh Blasts Quarterback on ESPN