The Rush Limbaugh brand ain’t gonna play in the National Football League.
According to The New York Times, the conservative radio announcer would face stiff opposition if his bid for ownership in the St. Louis Rams were to go forward.
Commissioner Roger Goodell cast doubt on Rush Limbaugh’s viability as an N.F.L. owner Tuesday, saying that “divisive comments are not what the N.F.L. is all about.”
Goodell’s comments were a thinly veiled signal that Limbaugh’s bid — even if it were the highest — would most likely not receive support from owners. Three-quarters of the 32 owners must approve a sale, meaning just nine of them can scuttle a deal.
Goodell, who presides over a league whose players are 65 percent black, took the extraordinary step of addressing an ownership bid early because a brushfire had sprung up last week when Limbaugh’s interest in the Rams became public.
Limbaugh famously made stupid comments about Donovan McNabb in 2003 while employed by ESPN, a network that instantly canned him for it.
Peter Schaffer, an agent and professor of sports law, agrees with the commissioner. “There is no place in our society for a person in a leadership role that has demonstrated inherent, life long and deep standing prejudices against human beings.”