A Rush to Judgement: Limbaugh and the NFL Players Union

As soon as news broke that Rush Limbaugh was mentioned as part of one of the groups interested in purchasing the St. Louis Rams I knew it was only a matter of time before someone in a position of influence lost their tongue and came out against it on grounds unrelated to NFL ownership. The grounds upon which ownership of a pro-sports franchise should be determined is whether or not they can pay the bills the team already owes and whether or not the owners can and will make the investments necessary to improve the team’s financial situation and nothing more. But that’s not good enough for the man whose tongue could no longer remain calm, NFL Players executive director DeMaurice Smith.

On Saturday, Smith sent an email to the union’s executive committee attacking Limbaugh on the grounds that he doesn’t bring people together enough to successfully join the NFL family. Smith wrote:

I understand that this ownership consideration is in the early stages. But sport in America is at its best when it unifies, gives all of us reason to cheer, and when it transcends. Our sport does exactly that when it overcomes division and rejects discrimination and hatred.

In reading Smith’s email you would think NFL some random island of harmony and peace. If you’ve read a sports section in the last few decades you’d know Utopia on the gridiron is as elusive as anywhere else, except perhaps Hollywood’s fictional Cuba.

Who exactly is in Smith’s NFL Players Association? Just to name a few of the most obvious members of Smith’s “America at its best,” there are Donte’ Stallworth of the Cleveland Browns who hit and killed someone in a drunk driving accident earlier this year and cut a plea deal under which he only served 24 of 30 days with 2 years house arrest (under which he’ll be able to train for his return to the NFL).

Michael Vick, more famous for cruelty to animals than anything he’s done on the football field.

And let’s not forget Plaxico Burress, who shot himself in the leg with an unlicensed gun in a New York night club and is now serving 2 years in prison.

In the Burress case, the NFLPA argued in favor of Plaxico being able to keep his million dollar bonus even though Burress has clearly broken the law and luckily only shot himself in his stupidity. Smith, in a statement about the decision, said:

This decision is a real win for the players. It means that clubs can’t impose additional discipline by claiming back signing or roster bonus monies after a suspension, either by a club or the league.

So, at least in Smith’s mind, the NFLPA “overcomes division and rejects discrimination and hatred,” but it embraces and fully supports those who break the law and, only through a fluke, shoot themselves and not others.

Just to be clear, a man who fought to preserve a bonus for a man who brought an illegal loaded weapon to a public place where alcohol is served and discharged that weapon opposes the prospect of a man with whom he disagrees politically owning a struggling franchise in the NFL.

Thankfully Smith has zero input in the final decision, he’s only attempting to muddy the waters of any deal to appease some of his members who, in the face of a complete lack of evidence and facts to the contrary, claim Limbaugh a racist. The union’s version of “unity” is strikingly similar to that of liberals in this country and their love of “diversity.” In the world of liberalism, diversity is a word symbolizing a bunch of different colored, like-minded drones. Tolerance ends when disagreement begins, and no arrow in the quiver is to be left unfired to attack those with which they disagree. Just ask Clarence Thomas, Michael Steele or Condi Rice how accepted they have been by the liberal elite champions of “diversity.”

Everyone expects a union goon to be a union goon, even if their goonery is accomplished with words while wearing a suit, so Smith’s actions come as a surprise to no one. Nor should the fact that this long-time DC lawyer has only ever given money to Democrat candidates, though he hasn’t given much, surprise anyone. (Though what is a surprise is the fact that Smith didn’t donate to retired NFLPA member Lynn Swann who ran for governor of Pennsylvania in 2006 as a Republican.) What should surprise, and worry, those he represents is the fact that he would attempt to allow his politics to interfere with the conducting of his business in their name.

Smith took no poll of the NFL players to find out their opinion on the subject, and he has no business deciding to whom anyone can sell a company they own. It’s not as though Limbaugh would quit his top-rated radio show to run the day-to-day operations of the Rams. Limbaugh is one of a group of people possibly interesting in forming a company to purchase the team, it’s not just Rush alone.

All Smith has accomplished with his email was to publicly attack a potential owner in a hypocritical, unprofessional way at a time when the NFL owners and NFLPA need to work together to extend their collective bargaining agreement before it expires and the possibility of a strike or lockout looms closer to reality.

In a world where millionaire murderers and felons make more in a week than the average American earns in a year, attacking the most popular man in a very popular medium may not have been the best way to achieve that goal. Smith should focus on cleaning his own house, a house rife with problems, instead of worrying about someone players will only see on Sundays from the owners box.

It would seem that Smith would have more important things upon which to focus, considering the recent study that showed a significantly higher risk of dementia in NFL players than the general population. But politics is politics, and that seemingly takes priority over everything else in the world of the Left.