Rep. King wades into Limbaugh, Rams ownership

(Photo submitted) U.S. Rep. Steve King questions NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during a House Judiciary Committee hearing on the long-term effects of head injury among NFL players. King also used the opportunity to question Goodell about the league's reluctance to see radio host Rush Limbaugh as part owner of the St. Louis Rams.

U.S. Rep. Steve King used a Capitol Hill appearance by Roger Goodell to press the NFL Commissioner about conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who was removed from a group trying to purchase the St. Louis Rams.

Goodell was testifying before a House Judiciary Committee hearing Wednesday to examine the long-term effects of head injury among NFL players.

After noting a pair of collisions in Saturday night's Iowa-Michigan State game, which resulted in players being carried off the field due to helmet-to-helmet contact, King picked up on a comment made by Sheila Jackson Lee, a Congresswoman who serves House District 18 in Texas.

"As I listened to the members of this committee discuss this, and we've covered a lot of the territory, I note that Sheila Jackson Lee said that she is concerned that owners need the right image," he told Goodell.

King interpreted the remarks as Jackson Lee's opposition to who might have been interested in an ownership group purchasing the St. Louis Rams. Limbaugh has said he was approached by St. Louis Blues chairman Dave Checketts earlier this year about participating in a Rams bid and keeping the team in St. Louis.

In 2003, Limbaugh was forced to resign from ESPN studio work for NFL broadcasts after saying of the Eagles' Donovan McNabb: "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."

Goodell and Colts owner Jim Irsay each expressed misgivings at a league-wide meeting about Limbaugh's involvement, with Goodell saying Limbaugh had made "polarizing" comments and Irsay vowing to vote against him. Checketts eventually had Limbaugh dropped from the bid.

"I would direct it to your statement on the 13th of October where you said, 'I think it's divisive comments, or they are not what the NFL is all about. I would not want to see those kinds of comments from people who are in responsible positions within the NFL, no, absolutely not,'" King told Goodell. "Now, I take you as a man of your word. But I would point out that you have a couple of owners that have performed lyrics in songs that are far more offensive. In fact, I don't think anything that Rush Limbaugh said was offensive, but with Fergie and with J. Lo, they have, between the two of them, alleged that the CIA are terrorists and liars, they've promoted sexual abuse of women, they've used the N-word, verbal pornography, recreational drug use, et cetera, and they are owners of the Dolphins."

King also called it "ironic" that Fergie was approved as an owner on the same day Goodell made the statement questioning Rush Limbaugh's potential ownership. The congressman also told Goodell he scoured the 2003 Limbaugh quote involving McNabb to find something that could be implied as racism.

"There is an implication of racism on the part of the media," King told Goodell. "That's the only quote that seems to survive the scrutiny of chase-checking back original sources in at least nine quotes that were alleged to Rush Limbaugh. And, by the way, of those, eight are complete fabrications. They're not based on anything. They're not a misquote. They're not a distortion. They're complete fabrication. And, the one that remains, stands true and shines the light against the media, not against Rush Limbaugh. And so if you're concerned about this, Mr. Goodell, then I'd ask you, you know, are you prepared to level the same charges against Fergie and J. Lo, or are you prepared to apologize to Rush Limbaugh today?"

King's question led to the following exchange between the Congressman and the NFL Commissioner:

GOODELL: Let me try to take this in a couple of different directions. First off, my comments at the annual meeting were directed about specific comments he made about Donovan McNabb; and I made the point, and I will make it again here today, that the NFL is about bringing people together, it's about unity and that we do not -- we do not move toward divisive actions. And, in fact, our teams, I think, have demonstrated that both on and off the field. Nothing brings a team and a community together better than the NFL.

KING: But, Mr. Goodell, were you considering those other eight quotes that I referenced when you made your statement, or were you considering the one that is true, the one that I've read to you and the one that doesn't shine a negative light on Rush Limbaugh but upon the media?"

GOODELL: I'm not shining any kind of a light on Rush Limbaugh here. I am not an expert on this -- all of his quotes. And I would try to reinforce to you something I said at the time. He was not even under active consideration as an NFL owner. This is -- I met -- stated this several times before, that we had not started a process to review ownership groups. He had -- they had not even determined to sell the St. Louis Rams, and it's something that" --

KING: Speaking directly of Rush Limbaugh, you said, "The comments that Rush made specifically about Donovan I disagree with very strongly."

GOODELL: I do.

KING: You are speaking --

GOODELL: Because I think Donovan McNabb is an outstanding young man. He's an outstanding quarterback, and it has nothing to do with the color of his skin.

KING: I'll just close with this. Here are Rush Limbaugh's -- his position. And after 20 years on the radio, there's nothing there that would undermine this. He says, "My racial views? You mean my belief in a colorblind society where every individual is treated as a precious human being without regard to his race?' And I'll close with that, Mr. Goodell.

And I'd ask you to go back and take a look at the owners of the Dolphins and the language that's in the public venue, the songs that they recorded, review those lyrics, and I'll provide some of those lyric songs to you, and I'll ask you to come back and respond to that question after the hearing as to whether you'll put the same scrutiny on those owners who have really shined a negative light on the NFL as opposed to somebody that the NFL apparently just doesn't agree with his politics. I yield back.

Limbaugh posted a response and link to the House Judiciary Committee exchange on his Web site, rushlimbaugh.com:

"Of course, Goodell's a total weasel," the Web site says. "He had no answer about the Dolphins' owners so wouldn't even address the question, and he got on his high horse about how McNabb is a fine player and a fine person and it has nothing to do with the color of his skin, when I (a) never said he was not a fine person; (b) never said he was a bad QB -- just that he was overrated (which no one should deny); and (c) said the MEDIA was obsessed with the color of his skin (which is also undeniable), not that I was."