Rush Limbaugh comments. Racist?

[Almighty Colin]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/foot...ex.html?cnn=yes

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Donovan McNabb has been to three straight Pro Bowls and two consecutive NFC championship games, and was runner-up for NFL MVP in his first full season as a starter.

Still, commentator Rush Limbaugh questions his credentials.

Before McNabb led the Philadelphia Eagles to a 23-13 victory over the Buffalo Bills, Limbaugh said on ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown that McNabb is overrated. The comment contained racial overtones that set off a controversy.

"I don't think he's been that good from the get-go," Limbaugh said. "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. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve. The defense carried this team."

An ESPN spokesman said Tuesday that Limbaugh doesn't do interviews and added that he didn't think the comments were racially biased.

"He was comparing McNabb's performance on the field to his reputation in the media," spokesman Dave Nagle said.

Nagle said that with Limbaugh on the show this season, ratings for Sunday NFL Countdown are up 10 percent overall, and 26 percent among the 18-to-34 male demographic. Sunday's show drew its biggest audience in the regular season since November 1996.

"ESPN hired Limbaugh for his passion and his ability to express opinion and spark debate as a football fan," Nagle said. "In just one month, he has certainly delivered."

Limbaugh is best known as the radio host of the conservative politically focused Rush Limbaugh Show, which is syndicated in more than 650 markets worldwide.

He spent most of the 1990s assailing then-President Clinton and now spends Sunday mornings talking football, a job he called "the fulfillment of a dream."

A decade ago, there were few black quarterbacks in the NFL. This season, 10 of the 32 teams will have started black quarterbacks in at least one game.

Seven black quarterbacks started NFL games last weekend and two of the best, Michael Vick and Daunte Culpepper, were on the sidelines with injuries. The veteran Rodney Peete also has started a game for Carolina, meaning that when Vick returns from his broken leg.

"I think the Philadelphia Eagles and the city of Philadelphia are very lucky to have Donovan McNabb," Eagles coach Andy Reid said, calling his quarterback "the best in the business."

McNabb got off to the worst start of his career this season and was the NFL's lowest-rated starting quarterback after losses to Tampa Bay and New England. He was criticized heavily for his bad start, which came after a subpar effort in Philadelphia's 27-10 loss to the Buccaneers in January's NFC title game.

Still, the Eagles are 36-22 in games he started.

"It's sad that you've got to go to skin color. I thought we were through with that whole deal," McNabb told the Philadelphia Daily News.