What would controversial comments about race and Donovan McNabb be without Rush Limbaugh weighing in?
In 2003 Limbaugh resigned from ESPN after angering many viewers by saying McNabb was overrated because “the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well.” And now Limbaugh has waded into the controversy started by boxer Bernard Hopkins, who questioned McNabb’s upbringing and said McNabb is not really black.
“This is just the latest in what has been a long line of attacks on Donovan McNabb from black individuals and organizations,” Limbaugh said on his radio show. “They have accused -- and I can’t use the term. It’s a purely totally unacceptable term, but they refer to McNabb by using the N-word, and they say he’s a sellout; that McNabb befriends the white power brokers of the Eagles.”
Limbaugh also says that unlike Hopkins, who criticized McNabb personally, his own criticism was not about McNabb, it was about the media’s portrayal of McNabb.
“I said nothing close to what Bernard Hopkins was saying,” Limbaugh said. “I never said a word about McNabb and blackness. I was talking about the media from start to finish.”
So McNabb has a defender in Limbaugh. I’m sure he’s thrilled.