In 2003, Rush Limbaugh resigned from a shortly held job on ESPN after his opinion that the media overpraised Donovan McNabb because it was “very desirous” to see an African-American quarterback do well in the NFL was met with much criticism.
More than 10 years later, Limbaugh finds the media singing a different tune when it comes to another African-American quarterback. On his radio show Thursday, Limbaugh was discussing Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III’s recent address to the United Nations about protecting the oceans. Limbaugh wasn’t crazy about that message -- “we couldn’t destroy the ocean if we tried” -- but also found something to criticize about the media’s coverage of Griffin.
“RGIII, the quarterback -- don’t know for how long -- of the Washington Redskins, came into the league amidst great fanfare,” Limbaugh said, via CBS DC. “First-round draft choice. Daniel Snyder, the owner of the Redskins, traded up to get RGIII, and he’s had some injuries and he just hasn’t maxed his potential. Well, some people think he’s bombed. And the media, it’s kind of strange, because here we have an African-American quarterback and yet the media has been kind of mean to RGIII. And one of the reasons is that it’s suspected that RGIII is a Republican.”
There’s one notable bit of Griffin criticism that involves his presumed political leanings -- Limbaugh’s fellow former ESPNer Rob Parker’s stance that Griffin isn’t authentically African-American named his support for Republicans as one of the reasons -- but the majority of the criticism of Griffin has been directly related to his play over the last two seasons. Just as it has been for Geno Smith, EJ Manuel, JaMarcus Russell and several other African-American quarterbacks (including McNabb) who have come under fire in the media regardless of their political opinions.
The opposite has been true for Peyton Manning, whose donations to GOP candidates hasn’t led to much of a backlash from a media that’s named him the NFL’s MVP five times.
