NFL Union Head Opposes Limbaugh's Rams Bid
Radio host hit for past comments
Updated 3:15 AM PDT, Mon, Oct 12, 2009
Conservative talker Rush Limbaugh’s bid to purchase the St. Louis Rams is encountering some heavy resistance from the head of the NFL’s player’s union.
NFL Players executive director DeMaurice Smith called on fellow union members in an e-mail Saturday to speak out against the talk radio giant, ESPN reported on its website.
“I've spoken to the Commissioner [Roger Goodell] and I understand that this ownership consideration is in the early stages,” Smith wrote. “But sport in America is at its best when it unifies, gives all of us reason to cheer, and when it transcends. Our sport does exactly that when it overcomes division and rejects discrimination and hatred." In a follow-up ESPN interview, Smith elaborated that players should "speak with candor and blunt honesty about how they feel."
Limbaugh, who famously barbs liberals on his wildly successful radio talk show, has drawn heat in the past for racially insensitive comments. Among his controversial remarks: that retired Gen. Colin Powell endorsed President Obama out of racial solidarity and that the media roots for black quarterbacks like Philadelphia Eagles’ Donovan McNabb over whites. The McNabb racial controversy led to Limbaugh’s resignation as a commentator at ESPN in 2003.
Get more: ESPN
First Published: Oct 12, 2009 3:01 AM PDT
You Might Like
You have 2000 characters left
