NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell,
I must admit to watching your remarks before and during the New
England Patriots-Tampa Bay Buccaneers football game in London with
great interest. Obviously you were playing goodwill ambassador, putting
the National Football League's best face forward for the international
audiences, but it was also with some disgust that I know of the other
face you were trying to hide.
As there is a time and a place, the desired appearance is that all
is well between the fans and the NFL. However, you seemed to get off
scott-free in claiming that a man (Rush Limbaugh) who was attempting to
become a minority partner in buying a franchise, was divisive because
of comments made that were fraudulently attributed to him. When it was
soon proven that the comments in question was a lie, you failed to take
back your reprimand.
What's ironic is that while you go to London to garner interest in the NFL,
you've also made yourself part of a despicable group of people who've
distanced a sizable group of people who would've (along with their own
regional loyalty) become secondary St. Louis Rams fans.
Even more ironic is that while dismissing Rush's 20 million listeners,
you've also dismissed the divisive qualities of NBC's Sunday Night
Football commentator, Keith Olbermann, who has repeatedly called
American citizens who are protesting "teabaggers". In case you're not
familiar with the definition of the term, according to Wikipedia
(reputable source of the Limbaugh slander) "teabagging" is defined as
... a slang term for the act of a man placing his
scrotum in the mouth or on or around the face (including the top of the
head) of another person, often in a repeated in-and-out motion as in
irrumatio. The practice resembles dipping a tea bag into a cup of tea.
You may be shocked to see an actual definition of the term being associated
with someone who works in close concert with the NFL, but Mr. Olbermann
has repeatedly used that term describing Americans (many of whom are
probably professional football fans).
Do you remember when Janeane Garofalo came on here
and called the tea baggers racist and the right wing said, you owe us
an apology? You know what, they were right. I would like to apologize
for Janeane comparing these Jacksonville tea party guys to racists. I‘d
like to apologize to racists. --- Keith Olbermann, Countdown, July 6, 2009
Unfortunately, millions of Americans have to endure seeing and
hearing this man on Sunday nights, offering his commentary as if his
insults of citizens never happened.
It is the height of hypocrisy that you call Rush Limbaugh divisive,
giving credibility to a slander in doing so, while giving Keith
Olbermann a pass in allowing him to be part of a network that displays
the NFL logo as part of their broadcasts.
You, sir, believe you can sweep Olbermann's issues under the rug, but many of us will not forget and we are patient.
There will be a time when you are going to come to the fans for
support. The league will need us. It may be a result of upcoming
contract fallout, or some other issue, but you DO need the fans. Many
of us are looking forward to an opportunity to let you know just how we
feel.
How do we come to a peace? Simple. Demand that Keith Olbermann be removed from the NBC broadcast.
I'm not a heartless man. Olbermann wouldn't be thrown out on the
street. He'll still be spewing from MSNBC every weeknight, bringing
home a paycheck.
You demand conduct-becoming of those that play the game. You should
also practice what you preach. Until then, many of us are avoiding
spending any disposable income on a product that has the NFL logo on
it. Consistency is all we ask, and what was done to Limbaugh is
something no one should endure. You wouldn't like it if someone called
you a racist. You wouldn't like it if people agreed with the false
accusation, and you did.
Do the right thing. While the NFL is a tremendous product, it is one we don't have to support with our dollars.
It's up to you... and Keith.