From James Alder,
Your Guide to Football.
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Oct 1 2003

Okay... I suspected it before the season started, but now I’m convinced. Rush Limbaugh, ESPN's newest and most controversial commentator, knows about as much about football as I do about the world of politics, and his only purpose on the network's "Sunday NFL Countdown" is to create a buzz to boost the show's ratings.

And create a buzz he did when he stated that quarterback Donovan McNabb was nothing more than a product of a media that desperately wants to see a black quarterback succeed. In fact, Rush feels McNabb is not even a good quarterback, nor has he ever been. Never mind the fact that the Philadelphia Eagles' quarterback has been to three straight Pro Bowls, two consecutive NFC championship games, and was runner-up for NFL MVP in his first full season as a starter.

In case you didn't catch the show, here are his absurd comments:

"I don't think he's been that good from the get-go. I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well. They're interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well... McNabb got a lot of the credit for the performance of the team that he really didn't deserve."

The first thing I would like to point out (and this is basic football 101 Mr. Limbaugh, so please pay attention) is that every quarterback always gets more credit than he deserve when the team is winning and always takes more blame than he deserves when the team is losing.

Sure, McNabb has benefited from playing on a team with a strong defense, and his career passing percentage may not equal some of the top passers in the game, but he brings so much more to the table than his ability to throw the ball. He is not a pocket passer like a Peyton Manning or a Drew Bledsoe. These guys have to beat you by throwing the ball. Donovan can do it with his feet as well, and that makes him one of the more difficult quarterbacks in the league to defend.

Over the course of his NFL career, McNabb has a very good touchdown-to-interception ratio. He has thrown 71 TD passes while only being picked off 41 times in 57 regular-season games. He has also added 14 touchdowns running the ball. In seven playoff games, he has a completion percentage over 60% and has rushed for 210 yards.

Limbaugh may also want to take note of the talent, or lack thereof, surrounding McNabb on the offensive side of the ball. Take note of the number of times his receivers drop passes or simply fail to get open. Also note the number of times he has had to carry the load for the ground game.

Donovan McNabb is, and has been for much of his career, the offense for the Philadelphia Eagles. Without him there is no way this team would have played in back-to-back NFC Championship games. And for Rush Limbaugh to call the entire sports media a bunch of racists for giving McNabb the credit he deserves is absolutely ludicrous.

But this is what ESPN hired him to do. Create controversy for the sake of ratings. Never mind the fact that he doesn't know what he's talking about, as long as it results in a few extra dollars in the network's coffers they'll allow him to continue making moronic statements that have no factual basis.

Give us all a break Rush, and go back to whining about affirmative action and how evil the Democratic party is and leave the sports journalism to the people that have a clue!

Discuss Rush's comments on the About Football Forum!