I didn't see it, but reading his remarks, this is Rush's Jimmy-the-Greek moment.
Why even allude to the guy's race? We've got critics of Quincy Carter here in Dallas, calling him "dumb," and "not instinctive" and "not able to think on his feet."
That's all code, slamming Carter because he's black.
I think that the point Rush was making was that McNabb was looking better than he was because of the defense.
I don't disagree with his point. Interestingly, Steve Young or Michael Irvin (can't remember which) conceded that Rush had a point: that McNabb is not the best player when he scrambles around, the offense is best when the QB stays in the pocket.
Now, after watching the game where his ankle was broken in two and the guy came back into the ball game and, for all intents and purposes, risked his career to win a footbal game was gutsy. That guy earned some respect from me that night. Interestingly, in that game, McNabb stayed in the pocket and ran the offense as it is intended to be run, which is precisely the point that Young or Irvin was making. Incidentally, I think that was the point that Rush was making too, that he wasn't as good as people are saying he is or as good as he could be.
Course, that wasn't Rush's point. There is a social investment in black quarterbacks in the NFL. That's not an over-the-top or a Jimmy-the-Greek statement. There is pressure on the NFL teams to have African Americans in leadership positions within the organization. Coaching has been getting all the press lately (with the whole Johnny Cochrane wanting to sue), but the quarterback position is also a leadership position too. So, while there might not be a stated goal of having X black quarterbacks, there is a social investment in having black quarterbacks.
Besides, I don't like any of these quotas (which is what they essentially are). I want the best players, coaches, organizational personnel available to my team on my team, period. I really don't care what color they are. If the best coach/quarterback/player is black, fine. If the best coach/quarterback/player is white, fine too.
Funny. Rush is delivering exactly what ESPN wanted: ratings. Just because his outlook on football isn't the conventional outlook, doesn't mean its wrong. You have a bunch of ex-players who do the pregame on the different networks (Michael Irvin, Steve Young, and Tom Jackson on ESPN; Dan Marino, Dieon Sanders, and Boomer Eisason [sp?] on CBS; and Howie Long and Terry Bradshaw on FOX) that have the same basic opinion. You have the mediators (Chris Berman, Jim Nantz, and James Brown) who move the commentary along, but usually defer to the players. Jimmy Johnson is the only ex-coach. Rush is the only person on all of those shows who represents a football fan.
Besides, he never gets a chance to fully explain what he means. One of the ex-players usually jumps in before he can finish his thought. As is Rush's specialty, Rush makes the provocative statement to get people's attention (which is one of the reasons why he is listened too everyday by 20 million people), but never gets the chance to tie the provocative statement to the iron-clad point that he is going to make. He gets cut off before he can do so.
How in holy hell is it over the top to imply that sports journalists are reverse racist's?