Limbaugh Talking NFL Ownership
Conservative talk show host makes bid for St. Louis Rams
By EAMONN BRENNAN
Updated 1:57 PM CST, Wed, Oct 7, 2009
Rush Limbaugh is looking to get back into the NFL, this time as an owner.
Missouri native Limbaugh teamed up with St. Louis Blues owner Dave Checketts to make a bid on the St. Louis Rams, which would put the inflammatory talker front and center in the NFL's business. If you know anything about Rush Limbaugh's NFL past, or anything about Roger Goodell's straight-laced NFL, you know this could get really interesting.
Of course, owning a team is different from talking about professional football, but would Limbaugh be able to separate the two? Things have not gone so well for him in the past: His time as an ESPN NFL analyst was short-lived after he said Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated because the media wanted to see a black quarterback succeed. After Limbaugh resigned, he assumed his natural position that the mainstream (see: liberal) media couldn't handle his righteous truth.
How does that correlate to ownership? Does Limbaugh consciously avoid black quarterbacks to prove his point? Does he use his team to make political statements about business in America? Or does he keep quiet and let the football people run things, all the while reaping the huge financial benefits that quiet, go-along-with-the-crowd NFL ownership brings each of its markets?
Either way, as Shutdown Corner's MJD writes today, this is a bad thing for NFL fans whether you like Rush Limbaugh or not. Why? Because the NFL isn't supposed to be about what some crazy right- or left-wing talk show host said today. It's not supposed to revolve in the same 24-hour insanity cycle that governs talk radio and cable news. Limbaugh's ownership threatens that. Our house has clean white carpets; we don't need that mess. But somehow we don't see Limbaugh taking his shoes off at the door.
One thing is certain: If Limbaugh does indeed buy the Rams, he'll be the recipient of the NFL's rather liberal -- borderline, well, socialist -- profit-sharing structure. Small market team that they are, the Rams might not be able to make a profit without the NFL's tax on larger, more affluent teams. What will Rush think of that? If the sale ends up going through -- and the Rams might not sell at all -- you can count on finding out.
Eamonn Brennan is a Chicago-based writer, editor and blogger. You can also read him at Yahoo! Sports, Mouthpiece Sports Blog, and Inside The Hall, or at his personal site, eamonnbrennan.com. Follow him on Twitter.
Copyright NBC Local Media
First Published: Oct 6, 2009 9:57 AM CST
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