You're right, you are wrong. What Rush was trying to splain was that McNabb was not playing well at all and was, at best, an average QB. (This was noted by plenty of articles written by sportwriters aplenty before Rush made his statement) But the press felt compelled to talk up Donovan McNabb and even his endorsements were going through the roof despite the fact that he was an average quarterback. He felt that it was due to the press and the racist views that the world needs to see a black athelete succeed at the quarterback position so we can get this whole issue of race behind us.
Why? In my opinion, because in a preemptive strike against anyone that might want to call the media racists (when the subject of racism comes up, all these sports guys are as phony as a 3 dollar bill), all they have to do is hold up their coverage of Donovan McNabb up and say, "See, we're not racist, we like Donovan!"
Why McNabb and not others? This year was supposed to be Philly's year. They got bushwacked by the Buccaneers but they were coming back on a mission, a little northeast sports bias perhaps, and besides, McNabb was the best candidates to jump on the bandwagon for because he was black (obviously), intelligent, personable, attractive and best of all, he was clean. And "clean" means "safe". No rape charges, no little Donovans running around all over town, no mugshots taken after beating up his old lady, he was never accused of taking a dump in his girlfriends laundry basket, you know, the little things that tend to turn people off.
It wasn't a matter of how good he was, he had star qualities and marketability due to his boyish smile and a clean record.
Of course, all that could be crap too and it could just mean that Aaron Brooks, Steve McNair and Daunte Culpepper all need new agents. As Deon Sanders said, while he was at Florida State he realized that DBs don't get payed as much as QBs and other stars so he had to come up with a shtick to market himself better so, presto change-o, in comes, Neon Deon, Primetime! Deon was never going to be a Hall-of-Famer but that didn't stop him from getting the coverage (read: CASH).
If that's what Rush was trying to say then I doubly disagree with him. McNabb is not an "average" QB. Tommy Maddox is an average QB. Trent Green is an average QB. So is Tim Couch and Marc Bulger. McNabb is a very good QB. Not "great". Not yet, anyway. But a step above your average journeyman.