Limbaugh ejected from potential NFL ownership group: Should you choose who you do business with?

About a week after it was announced that Rush Limbaugh was part of a possible NFL ownership group, he was ejected from this group after many complaints from players and even one team owner.

No one should be surprised that Limbaugh did not make it very far as a NFL team suitor. The controversy he has initiated, including when he was a commentator on the NFL for ESPN, makes him a magnet for criticism and unwanted attention for the private negotiations involved with any billion dollar purchase.

Specifically about the comments he has made over his career, it is clear that is extremely popular with many conservatives. He has made statements about blacks which were many found to be offensive.

However, Limbaugh offers opinions, not fact. He institutes no policies or laws. His business has only one employee. He can say whatever he feels like, and the only variable is the size of his audience.

And his audience, an estimated 13 million daily, is minuscule compared to the NFL watchers. For a recent Sunday night game, 21 million views watched the Vikings play the Packers.

Here is the problem for Limbaugh: for someone who offers unfettered opinion, often with the intention of incitement, it will make what you say extremely popular with a certain segment but make you known as a jerk with a much larger audience.

I read the complaints from NFL players, African-American leaders, and even one current team owner. I know there is not much substance in their comments, particularly when players threaten to boycott playing for Limbaugh. As one urban philosopher once wrote, "Cash Rules Everything Around Me, Dolla Dolla Bil Y'all"

However, these are not witness in a defamation suit, but notable people offering their opinion. Limbaugh can criticize his critics and defend his own views, but ultimately, he has to answer to the NFL audience, a group which is diverse, fans from every economic strata across the country, but politically apathetic.

NFL crowds wants to see hard hits, fancy footwork, leadership, and teamwork. They do not care much about race politics except to exclude it from their teams. No fan cares about a player's race, just that he is getting the job done.

Ultimately, if Limbaugh wanted to be part of the NFL, he has to answer not his choir of conservatives but the much larger audience of people who are not racist but are smart enough to know when someone else is.