Some NFL players & fans would boycott St. Louis Rams if Rush Limbaugh was an owner

Giants Mathias Kiwanuka and Jet’s Bart Scott are speaking out about the prospect of playing for the St. Louis Rams with Rush LimbaughRush Limbaugh as an owner of the team—and their message is clear--thanks by no thanks.

Although Mathias would jump at the chance to play for his former defensive coordinator, Steve SpagnuoloSteve Spagnuolo, currently with the Rams, he would rather be a free agent if Limbaugh ends up his name on the owner’s box.

According to a report in the NY Daily News:

"All I know is from the last comment I heard, he said in (President) Obama's America, white kids are getting beat up on the bus while black kids are chanting 'right on,'"Mathias Kiwanuka told The Daily News. "I mean, I don't want anything to do with a team that he has any part of. He can do whatever he wants, it is a free country. But if it goes through, I can tell you where I am not going to play."

Kiwanuka continued, "I am not going to draw a conclusion from a person off of one comment, but when it is time after time after time and there's a consistent pattern of disrespect and just a complete misunderstanding of an entire culture that I am a part of, I can't respect him as a man."

Regarding a potential Limbaugh ownership, Bart Scott weighed in, remembering a 2003 slam from Rush Limbaugh, when he was with ESPN, against Philadelphia’s black quarterback, Donavan McNabb:

“It's an oxymoron that he criticized Donovan McNabbDonovan McNabb," Scott said. "A lot of us took it as more of a racial-type thing. I can only imagine how his players would feel. I know I wouldn't want to play for him. He's a jerk. He's an ---. What he said (about McNabb) was inappropriate and insensitive, totally off-base. He could offer me whatever he wanted, I wouldn't play for him. ... I wouldn't play for Rush Limbaugh. My principles are greater and I can't be bought."

Mathias Kiwanuka sums up his feelings on the subject,"Limbaugh jumps on Obama and he jumps on other people for being racist. But a lot of the comments that he said, I feel like they have no place in journalism. It is just an opinion show that should be only be taken only for shock value. I liken it to 'South Park' when I am listening to him."

This week, on October 6th, Rush Limbaugh, a sports enthusiast, teamed up with group, including Dave Checketts, owner of St. Louis Blues to put in a bid for the embattled team.

CNN correspondent Donna Brazil, an avid St. Louis Rams fan, said she would stop going to the games if Rush was an owner, and it's a good bet many other fans feel the same way about the controversial and politically incorrect radio host.

It is very early in the process, but given the negative blow-back so far, it looks like Limbaugh may not be able to add “St. Louis Rams” owner to his resume.

***Copyright DelilahStarling 2009

Sources: New York Daily News and CNN