Rush Too Incendiary For NFL, But Humps Get You In

After writing a second missive on the whole Rush Vs. the NFL saga, I was pretty relieved. Relieved that I wouldn't have to write about the subject again. However, like Michael Corleone in the god-awful Godfather III, just when I think I'm out, Rush and the NFL pulls sme back in! Or back to my keyboard, as it were. I have a pretty good reason though. Make that a couple.

What brings me back to the Limbaugh/NFL brouhaha is the story that the NFL, almost at the same moment it was barring a former drug addict and controversy magnet's bid to become a part owner of the St. Louis Rams, was approving a former drug addict who says controversial things while being adored by millions for part ownership of the Miami Dolphins. Welcome to the NFL, Stacy Ann Ferguson... aka Fergie of Black Eyed Peas and "My Humps" fame.

"We're held to a higher standard here" - Commissioner Roger Goddell

While its true that, while trying to keep the whole Rush thing purely in a sports perspective and not making it about Rush's personal views and politics, I couldn't help but slip in a few shots at him in my writings. And really, let's be honest... there are few who could resist the temptation, just as those on the other side of the fence would find it hard not to take a shot at liberals while writing on the subject. That being said, I try to be fair. And in fairness to Rush, I can sympathize if he goes on his show and does what he does so well on this particular little story.

We are, after all, talking about someone who urinated on themselves during a performance, then tried to cover it up by dousing themself with champagne. And someone who has said, "I have had lesbian experiences in the past. I won't say how many men I've had sex with – but I am a very sexual person." And, of course, "I'ma get get get get you drunk/Get you love drunk off my hump/My hump my hump my hump my hump my hump/My hump my hump my hump my lovely little lumps". But all is forgiven because Ms. Ferguson is an "entertainer"... a rock star, actress... they're supposed to do those things, right? And that is perfectly acceptable, isn't that right commissioner Goodell. I'm sure the humps didn't hurt Fergie's cause either.

As much as it is my opinion that barring Rush LimbaughRush Limbaugh from ownership was a sound business decision for the NFL - the right decision, as it were - I think accepting Fergie into the upper echelons of the NFL is wrong, not to mention ridiculously endowed with double standardism. What is the difference, Mr. Goodell and the rest of the owners who voted her in? I'll tell you... and I hate to admit it... but it's the "P" word. Politics. Rush is in politics. Fergie is... not. Rush incites millions with his polarizing views. Fergie incites... millions of horny men (and apparently women too). Gee, guess who wins that choice?

I believe that had the Fergie approval happened at any other time, it would have been buried deep in the back pages, pretty much slipping by unnoticed everyone, except maybe Entertainment Tonite and MTV. But, considering the timing, what in the world is the NFL and Roger GoodellRoger Goodell thinking? On one hand, the League would have us believe that "We're held to a higher standard here", while on the other, the very public shenanigans of Fergie match the required "high standards" of the NFL - nevermind that Ms. Humps told a magazine she was so wonked out on methadone that she at one point spent eight hours a day talking to a hamster.

The NFL owners and commissioner Goodell have, for lack of better words, made idiots of their self-rightchous selves in this case. I'd love for Commissioner Goodell to go public and explain this double standard. Did they really think this would just slip on by as they stand there patting themselves on their collective backs for taking "the moral high ground" in the case of Rush Limbaugh? If things worked the way they're supposed to, the NFL would have only two choices: let Rush back in or kick Lady Lump out. But, as you all know, things never work the way they're supposed to. Fergie will be partying in the Dolphins owners booth, while Rush will return to bashing liberals and all things Obama on his show. And so it goes....