Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) Grills NFL Commissioner Goodell on Rush

In an October 28, 2009 House Judiciary Committee hearing, Congressman Steve King questions NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on comments he made regarding Rush Limbaugh.

Commissioner Goodell gets grilled by Rep. Steve King (R-IA) for his double standard against conservative owners. Goodell and the NFL obviously accept racist and mysogynistic lyrics from black rapper owners but will not allow conservatives to own franchises if the state-run media smears them with racist lies.

Rush Limbaugh responded to Commissioner Goodell’s answer to Rep. Steve King:

Of course, Goodell’s a total weasel. 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.
I RESPECT Donovan McNabb, as I do all the elite athletes qualified to play in the NFL. I’d love to have a beer with him and discuss football. My job on the ESPN pre-game show was to disagree with the panel when I did. The production meeting the day before the show featured two segments on McNabb and the Eagles. The focus of BOTH segments was, “What’s wrong with McNabb?” My thought was that not that much was wrong, that the Eagles defense was not getting sufficient credit, and that I thought the media was hyping McNabb for my stated reasons. — Rush Limbaugh

Below is a transcript of a portion of today’s House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill. Rep. Steve King (R-IA) questioned NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
KING: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank the witnesses for your testimony today. And one of the things that came out of it for me was to be in the same room with George Martin and Willie Wood and Jim Brown, see you all on the same field together. I didn’t think I’d ever actually see that. And so I appreciate that, and I want to remind folks here that just as I watched on Saturday night an Iowa-Michigan State game, there were two injuries that resulted in players being carried off the field, and they were both helmet-to-helmet contact, and so it comes in a particularly timely fashion.
However, 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, and her opposition to who might be buying the St. Louis Rams, her reason for that is owners that might not have the right image. Now, she wasn’t any more specific than that, but we know who she’s talking about, and that’s Rush Limbaugh. But I would ask Commissioner Goodell this question. Your position on owners have the right image, and 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.’ 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,
And it is also ironic that Fergie was approved as an owner on the very day that you made your statement against Rush Limbaugh. And I would point out for the committee, the statement that Rush Limbaugh made is this — that seems to be the one that survives the criticism, and that is: “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. They’re interested in black coaches and black quarterbacks doing well. McNabb got a lot of credit for the performance of the team that he really didn’t deserve,” close quote.
Now, I’ve scoured this quote to try to find something that can be implied as racism on the part of Rush Limbaugh, and I can’t find it. There is an implication of racism on the part of the media. 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?”
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 towards 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 the — 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 well 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.
END TRANSCRIPT