As NewsBusters previously reported, Republican Congressman Steve King of Iowa grilled NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Wednesday about conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh being denied ownership in the St. Louis Rams despite pop artists Fergie and Jennifer Lopez having minority interests in the Miami Dolphins.
In King's view, Fergie and J-Lo's offensive behavior in the past don't fit Goodell's own highly-publicized standards that "Divisive comments are not what the NFL is all about."
Although Limbaugh has posted a response to this hearing at his own website, he has been kind enough to elaborate for our readers:
Of course, Goodell's a total weasel. He had no answer about the Dolphins' owners so he wouldn't even address the question, and he got on his high horse about how McNabb is a fine player and a fine person and it has nothing to do with the color of his skin, when I (a) never said he was not a fine person; (b) never said he was a bad QB -- just that he was overrated (which no one should deny); and (c) said the MEDIA was obsessed with the color of his skin (which is also undeniable), not that I was.I RESPECT Donovan McNabb, as I do all the elite athletes qualified to play in the NFL. I'd love to have a beer with him and discuss football. My job on the ESPN pre-game show was to disagree with the panel when I did. The production meeting the day before the show featured two segments on McNabb and the Eagles. The focus of BOTH segments was "What's wrong with McNabb?" My thought was that not that much was wrong, that the Eagles defense was not getting sufficient credit, that I thought the media was hyping McNabb for my stated reasons...
It is going to be very interesting to see how Rush-hating media respond to today's hearing in the next 24 hours.
Stay tuned.