Football players and civil rights activists are trying to block an attempt by right-wing talk radio host Rush Limbaugh to buy a struggling team, saying he is too divisive for such a prominent role in US sport.
Limbaugh said last week that he had joined a group of investors seeking an ownership stake in the St Louis Rams.
In response, the NFL players association chief DeMaurice Smith, the reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and several players and sportswriters have urged the league to reject the bid, saying that Limbaugh’s divisive rhetoric and history of racially charged remarks make him unfit for a role in one of the country’s most popular games.
“Sport in America is at its best when it unifies, gives all of us reason to cheer, and when it transcends,” Smith wrote to the union’s executive committee. “Our sport does exactly that when it overcomes division and rejects discrimination and hatred.”
Sharpton, a New York civil rights leader, blasted Limbaugh in a letter to the league commissioner, Roger Goodell. Jackson said Limbaugh had gotten rich “appealing to the fears of whites.”
Some players have said they would not want to play for the Rams if Limbaugh succeeds.
“I don’t want anything to do with a team that he has any part of,” New York Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka told the New York Daily News.
The team’s worth on the market reflects its miserable performance on the gridiron: Forbes magazine estimates its value at US$913 million, ranking 25th out of 32 teams.
Limbaugh has joined Dave Checketts, owner of the St Louis Blues hockey team, in exploring a bid for a 60 percent share.
Limbaugh is a native of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, about 160km southeast of St Louis. A football fan who often discusses the game on his nationally syndicated talk show, in 2003 he won a spot as a football commentator on the ESPN television network.
He soon resigned, however, after infuriating fans with a remark that Donovan McNabb, at the time one of the top quarterbacks in the league, had been over-hyped by news media keen to see an African-American succeed in the position.
■EAGLES HELP ANIMALS
AFP, PHILADELPHIA
Michael Vick’s work to repair his image in the wake of a dogfight conviction continues with his new National Football League club, which has unveiled a new animal support program.
The Philadelphia Eagles awarded US$50,000 grants to city, county and national humane society programs as part of Treating Animals With Kindness, an initiative aimed at reducing animal abuse and ending dogfighting.
The Eagles had pledged such an effort when they signed Vick, the former superstar quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons who was convicted for his role in a dogfight gambling ring and served 18 months in prison.
Public outrage sparked protests of Vick, especially after details of the case revealed he had a hand in slaying animals through such methods as beatings, drownings and hangings.
Vick, who signed a US$1.6 million contract for this season after having to file for bankruptcy after his NFL banishment, has worked with children’s groups to discourage animal abuse and educate youth about preventing dogfights.
On the field, Vick has been used mainly as a decoy in the Eagles’ attack, which has produced 37 yards when he has been on the field.
He has been used as a quarterback but also lined up in a receiver’s position.
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