By Evan Weiner

August 3, 2008

(New York, NY) -- So the American conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh is thinking about buying into the St. Louis Rams should that the franchise be up for sale. Limbaugh has money as he has been a big time nationally syndicated talk show radio in the United States for 20 years but he probably doesn't have the assets to fully buy an NFL team. Limbaugh makes more money annually than New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez with his new deal that runs through 2016 being worth an estimated $400 million over the course of the contract. He would need partners although given his ties to Fox News President and Chairman Roger Ailes and the Republican Party; he should not have any difficulties finding other investors.

Assuming Limbaugh can find the wherewithal to buy an NFL franchise, would NFL owners want him? That is a good question. Under normal circumstances someone like Limbaugh would be put through rigorous background check to make sure he has the financial assets to own a team. But Limbaugh is not the average multi-millionaire looking to own an NFL team. He has baggage and has already had a run in with league. In October 2003, the radio talk show host quit "Sunday NFL Countdown" with the hope of "protecting" the Disney-owned ESPN from a torrid of criticism after Limbaugh stated that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb was overrated because the media wanted to see a black quarterback succeed.

It was typical race-baiting Limbaugh, a staple of his radio career going back his early days as a talk show host in the 1970s in Pittsburgh when he told an African-American caller. "'Take that bone out of your nose and call me back." Limbaugh has made a lot of money in an industry that has no morals, no decency, no common courtesy, talk radio in the United States. Limbaugh is the most successful of the talk show hosts.

About 65 percent of NFL players are African Americans and Limbaugh's criticism of McNabb has done him no favors in the football society.

A couple days after the McNabb incident, Limbaugh announced on his radio program that he was addicted to pain medication and that he was checking himself into a treatment center immediately. All of this came after Limbaugh's housekeeper talked to reporters from the tabloid The National Enquirer and said that Limbaugh had purchased more than 30,000 prescription pain pills from her and her husband, including OxyContin, hydrocodone, and Locet, in 2001 and 2002 because of severe back pain.

Prosecutors led by Palm Beach County (Florida) State Attorney Barry Krischer alleged that Limbaugh obtained prescriptions from multiple doctors for the drug OxyContin. In May 2006, Limbaugh's attorney Roy Black cut a deal with Krischer that which kept Limbaugh out of jail in exchange for 18 months of drug treatment. Limbaugh also agreed to pay the county $30,000 to cover the cost of its investigation and $30 a month in supervision costs. The one count of doctor shopping would be dropped from his record in 18 months if he went through with the treatments.

Limbaugh's lawyer said his client did not engage in doctor shopping. The attorney's statement also included a claim that Limbaugh was clean since the 2003 treatment.

Limbaugh's true believers, the "Dittoheads" don't care about his run-ins with the league or his drug problem in Florida. The Bush family, President George H. W. Bush, President George W. Bush and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush are big fans. But they aren't owners who worry about what people think, especially those who spent money on football.

Limbaugh's real politics, not the so-called daily "entertainment" on radio, is not a problem for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell or his owners. Limbaugh probably would find allies in people like San Diego Chargers owner Alex Spanos who was a keynote speaker at the 2000 Republican Convention which nominated George W. Bush as the party's choice for President of the United States. Spanos also represented the United States with former President George H. W. Bush at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Jets owner Woody Johnson is a Republican fundraiser in New Jersey. But Limbaugh's daily entertainment fare would be at odds with one influential owner, Pittsburgh's Dan Rooney.

The NFL's Rooney Rule took effect in 2003 and forces National Football League franchises to interview minority candidates for a head coaching vacancy. Rooney was the chairman of the league's diversity committee. Rooney is a supporter of Barack Obama's bid for the White House in 2008. Limbaugh in April 2007 did a bit called ""Barack the Magic Negro," a parody of Puff the Magic Dragon.

Ironically, Limbaugh is a Steelers fan.

The real difficulty for NFL owners is Limbaugh's radio character. The three hour daily radio show is an act but there is a long track record of denigration of women (feminazis), liberals, pro-choice activists, environmentalists, anti-tobacco groups, teachers, drug users, Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's disease and his commercial supporting stem cell research, the poor, "phony soldiers" and minorities over three decades. That may fly in the talkers world where ratings and fighting for advertising dollars rule and the public good, fairness, decency and civil discussion have been long forgotten but NFL owners are very image conscience and Limbaugh's image doesn't fit. It was an ill-conceived idea when Limbaugh was added to the Disney-unit's ESPN although Limbaugh was a good fit for Disney's WABC Radio in New York financially back in 1988. Limbaugh is still on the station although Disney is out of the radio station owning business. Ironically one of WABC’s talkers that proceeds Limbaugh is Don Imus who was fired by WFAN in New York and NBCUniversal’s MSNBC cable TV network for his “nappy headed hos” comment about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team in April 2007.

Limbaugh's interest in the St. Louis Rams may be just a fleeting notion. The St. Louis franchise is not for sale at the moment although new owner Chip Rosenbloom, who inherited the team following the death of his mother Georgia Frontiere last winter, has admitted that he has received inquiries asking if the franchise was for sale. Rosenbloom contends that the team is not for sale. Officially there are no NFL teams on the selling block. It would be interesting though to see the reaction of NFL owners if Limbaugh did put a group together to buy an NFL franchise. It would be a fascinating debate.

evanjweiner@yahoo.com