Yeah, Limbaugh shouldn’t have said what he did, but that doesn’t mean he’s a racist. Maybe he thought he saw something in the NFL culture that was valid. I personally think his point was off-base, but just because he thought the NFL wants black QBs to succeed doesn’t mean he’s a racist. It’s rather disgusting that in society today we can’t really discuss things like this without being called a racist.

And, if we’re going to call Limbaugh a racist, then by the same merits McNabb should be labeled a racist as well:

“There’s not that many African-American quarterbacks, so we have to do a little bit extra,” McNabb said.

McNabb also said: "I pass for 300 yards, our team wins by seven, [it’s] ‘Ah, he could’ve made this throw. They would have scored if he did this.’ "

McNabb said that’s not always the case for white quarterbacks like Peyton Manning and Carson Palmer.

“Let me start by saying I love those guys,” McNabb said. “But they don’t get criticized as much as we do. They don’t.”

Isn’t that basically the exact same type of comment as Limbaugh, except arguing the other side?

Maybe these players ought to refuse to play with McNabb?

so I don’t see why they couldn’t refuse if they wanted to.

but just some guy who voices his political opinions on the radio? No problem whatsoever. How do these players know that their owner isn’t a big Rush supporter as it is?

I wouldn’t want to work for Rush (the dude… working for the band would be teh awesomes!!!)
Athletes have very weirdly restricted employment rights (contracts, drafts, etc.)… they can’t just quit and work for a different team (company) like you or I.

They have two choices – go on strike or wait for free agency.

If they feel like putting their career in jeopardy because they don’t want said owner its their choice. Its their body being beatin up not ours. This is a players choice. If any player believed in their own mind to make a decision about their career how could tht be a problem? Personally I think Limbaugh justs regurgitates useless rhetoric and has made his money saying what a certain group of people wanna hear. More power to him, I wouldn’t play for him either but its not my decision. The NFŁ is 75 percent afr american, and it may be a problem for him. The league has to consider the issues that would occur and a lot of players will be pissed if he does get the team.

If I was Limbaugh, I’d reconsider the investment if he’s already catching this much flack for the players on the team

This FanPost has certainly teetered, but I do think the general idea behind the topic is worthy of discussion. The players obviously have their reasons, but I’d imagine even just a few minutes of research would reveal some interesting political connections with NFL owners.

I don’t see the problem as Rush’s political beliefs. It’s his behavior in spreading those beliefs, especially as they are taken as being bigoted toward people. Jerry Jones opened his stadium with perhaps the least popular President in American history (W Bush) flipping the coin. No Cowboys player blasted Jones because it’s not about politics it’s about behavior. Most NFL owners are likely Republican. No one cares, just like no one cares about their religious beliefs, cultural heritage, sexual orientation, gender or marriage status.
But if one of these owners spent their time in public speaking poorly of anyone from these groups, they may find sponsors unwilling to align with them and players unwilling to work for them.

It’s worth noting with Rooney that he is a Republican. His support for Obama was noted for that reason. Who he chose to support is not an issue. Had he publicly insluted a segment of the American public because of his voting choice, that would likely earn him a great deal of criticism and it would have been deserved.

have the right to choose their employer? If I know that my company is being bought out by an owner whom I do not like, I should be able to put in my notice and go work for someone else.

He’s going to buy the rams I don’t have a problem with it. People don’t have a problem with his beliefs its how he delivers the message gets people a little upset. I don’t think Rush is a racist either and im latino so plz don’t pull the bs race card very low class people. Just learn to respect other peoples view points.

I stay out of politics….

then the Rams will become even worse. A lot of their good players would bolt right when they hit free agency. This would definitely help the Niners because they wouldn’t even have to think about the Rams having a shot at the division. Like the Rams do now lol.

I was thinking of posting about putting ourselves in Crabtree’s shoes and have each individua say how they’d respond to their own comments if they were crabs reading their ownposts or others. kinda point out what theyveheard from others as well. I would but im driving to girltown texas I mean dallas and the laptop isn’t with……just a thougt

I love to see him as an owner and then make comments about other teams and players. Then when the league fines him for those comments and he makes more comment about the league. Just to get kick out. j/k lol That would be awesome! He gets paid to start issues and get people upset. In the box you can only be seen and not heard! He needs to stay on the radio and out of the real business of professional sports.

If they decided not to play…
yes, they wouldn’t get paid
yes, they could possibly be sued
and yes, they could hurt or end their careers.

But, yes, there are a handful of players that would do this and that’s more than enough to make a statement.

I’m not trying to enter into polititcs here, but understand that if someone as polarizing as Rush Limbaugh owns a team, politics WILL enter into football. If you think that it’d be bad on this website, holy poop stains, it’d be terrible in the NFL.

Very true

Haven’t they been through enough?

If the NBA survived Mark Cuban, the NFL can survive Rush.

Marge Schott owned the Reds and had a public and favorable opinion of Hitler, yet I don’t recall any players ever refusing to play for her or the Reds. I think it speaks volumes of how divisive our society has become that players would now threaten to not play for an owner who’s only crime appears to be a right wing bias. It seems to me that it would be any player’s prerogative to not sign with the Rams in free agency for any reason including the owner’s political beliefs. But it seems absurd to me that any player would refuse to honor their current contracts simply because of the owner’s right wing views. If Limbaugh bought the team and cut ties with all players with left wing views would it not seem outrageous? If quality players refuse to come to the Rams after Limbaugh buys the team and the Rams’ on field play suffers its Limbaugh’s problem, but there’s no excuse for this kind of whining and, as this thread proves, it only breeds even more divisiveness.

I honestly don’t know what the huge deal is here.

1 – Do NFL players have the right to refuse to play for any team for any reason?

Yes.

This is America. A player can currently refuse to play for the Rams or Raiders simply because they suck. A player can currently refuse to play for a team because he doesn’t like the owner, whether that owner is Jerry Jones, Dan Snyder, Al Davis, or even Rush Limbaugh. Depending on your contract, there could be consequences you’d have to pay for refusing to follow your contract – but that’s your right.

2 – Does anyone have the right to purchase NFL teams that are up for sale?

Yes.

If you have the cash to do it, go ahead. I’d say that owning an NFL football team would be one of almost any guy’s dreams.

3 – Does the owner of the Rams franchise have the right to refuse sale to anyone he doesn’t want to sell his team to?

Yes.

It’s a private franchise. As long as he’s not breaking the law, he can do whatever he wants.

From a football fan standpoint, I’d be most interested in whether Rush Limbaugh would manage his new franchise well – perhaps better than the current ownership (or better than, oh say, Dan Snyder manages the Redskins).

From a 49er fan standpoint, I’m perfectly happy with the current ownership keeping the Rams in the land of suck.

So, in summary. Rush Limbaugh can buy the team. Players can refuse to play for that team if he does buy it. And the Rams owner can choose to sell or to not sell his team to Limbaugh. Our crying and whining about anything else is superfluous. Basically, as long as the Niners keep beating the Rams, no matter who the (site decorum) the owner is, I know I’ll be happy.

There is no way of tell in today’s world who is a racist, a bigot or whatever other term is used for people who believe in old ways of living. I learned at a very young age that you keep politics and religion out of the workplace and I still believe that today unless the parties involved can keep it civil. It is very ridiculous that politics is so serious for most people when in actuality politics is a joke that is being played on us…like a wise man once said to me about politics…no one knows anything but everyone knows everything.

I am one person who believes that Politics should be involved in certain aspects of sports; especially when it comes to unfair treatment. I without a shadow of a doubt can not stand Rush but he is entitled to purchase what he wants. But NFL owners should not under estimate the power of hate and dislike. In a sport where 75% of its players are black there could be a huge outcry against people like Rush getting into the NFL. As one person already pointed out there is no way of knowing if a current NFL owner is a bigot but I can promise you if and NFL owner ever said half of the things that Rush has said he wouldn’t be an nfl owner anymore.

Players do have the right to voice their opinion just like you do at your current job. Will that make a difference? Probably not. And I doubt that when it comes down to it that the NFL players will risk losing money for this cause. I think it would be more of an issue from the people(fans and non fans included).

In a sport where 75% of its players are black there could be a huge outcry … I can promise you if an NFL owner ever said half of the things that Rush has said he wouldn’t be an nfl owner anymore.

Maybe I’m just out of the loop, but could anyone find a quote of what Limbaugh actually said that could cause players to sit out for a season refusing to follow their contracts? I’ve read a couple news articles on this, but every one of them just vaguely references Limbaugh’s HORRIBLE racist remarks without actually quoting him.

I also vaguely remember the ESPN thing about McNabb, but I can’t find a quote of what he actually said anywhere.

This post is not about Rush Limbaugh but just so the record is straight I will give you these and let it be and you decide that if an NFL owner said these things if he would still be an owner. Or if there would be some issues in the league. These are not made up or misconstrued in any matter

1. I mean, 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.

2. You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray [the confessed assassin of Martin Luther King]. We miss you, James. Godspeed.

3.Have you ever noticed how all composite pictures of wanted criminals resemble Jesse Jackson?

4. Right. So you go into Darfur and you go into South Africa, you get rid of the white government there. You put sanctions on them. You stand behind Nelson Mandela — who was bankrolled by communists for a time, had the support of certain communist leaders. You go to Ethiopia. You do the same thing.

5. Look, let me put it to you this way: the NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it.

6. The NAACP should have riot rehearsal. They should get a liquor store and practice robberies.

7. They’re 12 percent of the population. Who the hell cares?

8. Take that bone out of your nose and call me back(to an African American female caller).

9. I think the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They’re interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well. I think there’s a little hope invested in McNabb and he got a lot of credit for the performance of his team that he really didn’t deserve.

10.Feminism was established to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream.

The issue is this:

1) He has said many things that are offensive to many, if not most, NFL players.

2) He is unapologetic about them

3) His career is advocating political positions related to those beliefs.

4) He has made a career out of NOT respecting the political beliefs of his opponents.

This is different from somebody just being politically active – there were plenty of McCain supporters among NFL players, for example. (One bay area reporter, I can’t remember who, polled everyone on the team who’d answer during the run-up to the election).

I think most people can respect political differences. The catch is that Rush Limbaugh is not one of those people. He ridicules and lampoons those who disagree with him. There is no “respectful disagreement” in Rush’s universe. You’re either with him or you’re against him, and if you’re against him you’re lazy, hate america, or whatever.

I don’t think we’d be having this discussion if Rush was, say, a conservative Rachel Maddow (a woman who gives her political opponents time to make their arguments, and engages them solely on the merits of those arguments). He’s not. He is actively antagonistic to those who disagree with him politically.

And that’s the problem. Those who would say Rush’s politics shouldn’t matter need to grapple with the fact that Rush would never give you the same courtesy.

I don’t care if he does or not. He is not a criminal. He says stupid things and has somewhat of a twisted outlook. Mike Vick got another chance to play(Which I agree with) after committing a HORRIBLE crime(I’m not a doglover either). So why can’t Rush have a team just because he made some stupid comments?

Many black players have stated that they wouldn’t play for him. Larry Fitzgerald(Whom I love even being loyal to red and gold) was on 1140 and had said that it’d be hard for Rush to get a team which I agree with. He gave his whole oppinion(Against Limbaugh) without clearly saying that he wouldn’t play for him. Riiiiiiight. This aint the 1960’s. There’s no civil rights movement. If Rush is wanting to pay you $10 million a year to catch or throw a football, you’d have to be a complete moron for not taking the money.

Mike Lamb also on 1140 said that he wished he could get Jim Browns take on the matter since him and so many players made sacrifices back in the day for what they believe. I say who gives a (site decorum) what Brown thinks now. He is from a different era and did great things during that crazy time. But this is now. You could’nt throw money at players like that and everything be ok back then. Players now would forget the stupid comments Rush has made pretty fast when they have 7 figures in their bank account.

Players represent the team more than the owner. That’s why football is the best sport. It’s about the team! Limbaugh has committed no crime for his words eventhough they were assinine.