I spent a great deal of time before sitting down to write this column last week promising myself that I wasn’t going to write about Rush Limbaugh and, more specifically, the racist, bigoted, hateful and idiotic attack he launched a week ago Sunday on ESPN’s pregame show at Donovan McNabb, the NFL and the media that covers it and pro football fans everywhere.

I wanted to believe that Limbaugh just screwed up, as we all do occasionally, although most of us would never unleash clear racist bias the way Limbaugh did. There is no longer any hiding what lies in Limbaugh’s heart, but if he could have just said, “I’m sorry, I was wrong” and resigned and walked away, I still don’t think there’s any way I could have forgiven him, but at least we could have ignored him. Unfortunately, it appears what we’re going to get from Limbaugh is more stupidity and more hate, and that is something I hope we all feel the need to decry and shout down.

That ESPN allowed Limbaugh to resign rather than firing him is a bit of an insult to fair-minded folks everywhere, but again, trying to make sure at least one side of this issue focuses on fairness, I’m reasonably sure ESPN’s handling of the situation had everything to do with the realities of big business and nothing to do with racism. As outrageous and stupid as Limbaugh’s resignation announcement was — in which he claimed that he wasn’t talking about Mc­Nabb at all but rather the sports media, and that he believed his comments were in no way racist but a statement of fact — the jerk could have been burned out of our consciousness if he would have just said, “I’m sorry.”

But when I heard on the news that he adamantly stated, “I stand by what I said” on his radio show the day after his resignation, I first became sick to my stomach and then realized that ignoring this guy would be kind of like the way the world gave Adolf Hitler his start.

I will apologize to Mr. Limbaugh for the pain I’m sure I just caused him by putting him and Hitler in the same category, even though it’s actually you, Rush, who put yourself there, and not me. Unlike the shock I felt when you accused me of being a racist (I think I qualify as a member of the media you blasted), even though your attack was completely without basis or reason.

Prior to Limbaugh’s coming-out and farewell party at ESPN, I had no opinion on the man whatsoever. The fact is I’ve never once heard his radio show, read anything he’s written or watched him on TV because our politics couldn’t possibly be more different.

And I really believe that’s great. It doesn’t make him a bad guy; it is what makes our country the greatest in the world. And some folks had told me Limbaugh would occasionally quote Pro Football Weekly on his show, so I assumed he probably was a knowledgeable football fan.

I had no opinion when ESPN hired him. I figured it was another crack at taking a high-profile guy who was a huge pro football fan and trying to give the fans a voice while being entertaining at the same time. That he happened to be quite a bit more controversial than say, Dennis Miller, the last experiment of a similar kind, was fine with me. Because I thought, and still want to believe, that ESPN wanted him to be controversial about football. The network couldn’t possibly have been hoping to bring politics into the game, right?

But how can anyone not speak up when the man first makes one of the most asinine football analyses ever — that McNabb isn’t that good and gets credit that his defense deserves — and then suggests that the entire sports media is trying to mislead the world for racial purposes?

McNabb got off to a terribly slow start this year. He is also one of the 10 best players in the NFL today, and I believe one of the five best quarterbacks.

The others are Brett Favre, Steve McNair, Peyton Manning and Rich Gannon. The next five are Michael Vick, Tom Brady, Kerry Collins, Daunte Culpepper and Brad Johnson.

Chad Pennington, Aaron Brooks and Matt Hasselbeck could be pushing this group soon, and I have no idea where to put Patrick Ramsey and Quincy Carter right now.

Based on a number of scouts and personnel folks I’ve talked to, that’s as solid and accurate a list as I can give you — black, white, pink or green. It’s also the clearest evidence I can give that Limbaugh apparently knows little about pro football, and that he never should have been allowed to comment on it in the first place.

As for his attempts to deny his own bigotry in his radio broadcasts heard around the world, I can live with my genuine feeling that most of us saw through it.

And that our resolve should be greater than ever to teach the few people who didn’t see through it just how hateful and dangerous Limbaugh’s bigotry really is. 

The above content is featured from our Pro Football Weekly print edition — Issue 13.