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Bill Lyon | McNabb gets by By Bill Lyon Inquirer Columnist Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb hurdles the Washington Redskins’ Rashad Bauman on his way to a first down during the Eagles’ successful touchdown drive in the fourth quarter. JERRY LODRIGUSS / Inquirer. In the shadow-streaked gloaming of a golden October day, at the end of one of the most combustible weeks in Philadelphia sports history, the Eagles finally won a game in their new, $512 million playpen. They did so by the shortest of hairs on their chinny-chin-chins, 27-25, over the pesky and persistent Washington Redskins, and it was as...

Normally, Donovan McNabb is a sports junkie, at times something of a news junkie, which means the TV is usually on. But this week, if he was going to keep not only his equilibrium, but also his very sanity, he was going to have to set a rule: No TV, at least no sports or news. There was nowhere he could turn without seeing Rush Limbaugh's comments replayed, without seeing a debate over whether he is overrated, without seeing a panel of experts being interviewed via satellite.

<p>PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The Philadelphia Eagles wouldn't let the Washington Redskins pull out another close victory.</p> <p>Patrick Ramsey overthrew Laveranues Coles on a 2-point conversion with 13 seconds left, and the Eagles beat the Redskins 27-25 on Sunday.</p> <p>Ramsey rallied Washington from an 11-point deficit in the final 3:10, connecting with Darnerien McCants on a 32-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds.</p>

Eagles 27, Skins 25 PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The Philadelphia Eagles wouldn't let the Washington Redskins pull out another close victory. Patrick Ramsey overthrew Laveranues Coles on a 2-point conversion with 13 seconds left, and the Eagles beat the Redskins 27-25 on Sunday. Ramsey rallied Washington from an 11-point deficit in the final 3:10, connecting with Darnerien McCants on a 32-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds. But under pressure from Brandon Whiting, Ramsey hurried his throw to Coles in the corner of the end zone and the ball sailed over Coles' head. After John Hall's fourth field goal, a 53-yarder,...

Oct 5, 3:54 PM EDT ESPN's NFL Show Goes On, With an Apology By CONNOR ENNIS AP Sports Writer NEW YORK (AP) -- ESPN's NFL pregame show returned Sunday with an apology - and without Rush Limbaugh - a week after the commentator's race-tinged comments about Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. Panelists Chris Berman, Tom Jackson, Steve Young and Michael Irvin took criticism from the media, as well as McNabb, for not responding when Limbaugh suggested on the Sept. 28 "Sunday NFL Countdown" show that McNabb was overrated because the media wants to see a black quarterback succeed. "Do I wish...

Will the thought police force CBS off the air along with Rush Limbaugh? They'll try if they have any consistency at all, which, of course, they don't. An alert reader today sent us a most fascinating column written by CBS SportsLine.com senior writer Pete Prisco back on Sept. 18. McNabb was the choice as the most overrated player before his Stink at the Linc on Sunday. McNabb was awful in the Eagles' 31-10 loss to the Patriots, which dropped the Eagles to a surprising 0-2 heading into their bye week. McNabb is still a good player, despite his pedestrian numbers...

WINSTON-SALEM, NC -- Black Republican Vernon Robinson, a two-term member of the Winston-Salem city council, is publicly defending Rush Limbaugh in the Donovan McNabb controversy. "In expressing his personal opinion that McNabb is over-rated," said Robinson, "Rush Limbaugh was doing only what dozens of other sports commentators do every day of every season in every sport. Rush simply added his own speculation that the reason McNabb enjoys an inflated reputation among sports commentators is the liberals', 'We gotta have more black quarterbacks' campaign. Nobody has yet explained to me how that is supposed to make Rush a racist." "Maybe McNabb...

CBS Says McNabb Tops 'Overrated' List CBS Says McNabb Tops 'Overrated' List Will the thought police force CBS off the air along with Rush Limbaugh? They'll try if they have any consistency at all, which, of course, they don't. An alert reader today sent us a most fascinating column written by CBS SportsLine.com senior writer Pete Prisco back on Sept. 18. McNabb was the choice as the most overrated player before his Stink at the Linc on Sunday. McNabb was awful in the Eagles' 31-10 loss to the Patriots, which dropped the Eagles to a surprising 0-2 heading into their...

There is a poll on the ESPN website about Rush's remarks and his resignation. Please FReep it here.

Football expert and social commentator Rush Limbaugh claimed last Sunday morning that the media are partial to Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, and you know what? He's absolutely right, at least when it comes to one media guy. Me. Yep, Rush has my number. Well, if he had my number I'd change it and get a restraining order--but it is true that I've long been a McNabb fan because he and I have so much in common. For one thing, McNabb and I are both from south suburban Dolton. Also, McNabb attended Mt. Carmel High School on the South Side--same...

Rush Limbaugh didn’t say Donovan McNabb was a bad quarterback because he is black. He said that the media have overrated McNabb because he is black, and Limbaugh is right. He didn’t say anything that he shouldn’t have said, and in fact he said things that other commentators should have been saying for some time now. I should have said them myself. I mean, if they didn’t hire Rush Limbaugh to say things like this, what they did they hire him for? To talk about the prevent defense?

While Rush Limbaugh's NFL television commentating job came to an end after saying the Philadelphia Eagles' quarterback was overrated by the media, several other football analysts are on record with that assessment. The commentators, all writing in mid-September, at least two weeks before Limbaugh's controversial remarks, include a representative of the premier sports magazine, Sports Illustrated, and CBS SportsLine.com. Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb (Photo: Baltimore Sun) Steve Prisco, of CBS SportsLine.com, wrote Sept. 18, for example, that McNabb is a "good player," he's just not a "great one." "And that's why he earns the Most Overrated Player Award," Prisco said,...

If you hired Jerry Falwell to be a commentator on your TV show, would you be shocked and dismayed if he mentioned God? If you invited Ralph Nader to do color commentary for Major League Baseball, would you drop your jaw in disbelief the first time he mentioned corporate "greed"? If you asked famed prop-comic and California gubernatorial candidate "Gallagher" to anchor the nightly news, would you be stunned if he ended his broadcasts with a smashed watermelon?Maybe you would. In fact, maybe you're a programming executive at ESPN.The sports news network hired Rush Limbaugh to do pre-game football...

<p>In his notorious ESPN comments last Sunday night, Rush Limbaugh said he never thought the Philadelphia Eagles' Donovan McNabb was "that good of a quarterback."</p> <p>If Limbaugh were a more astute analyst, he would have been even harsher and said, "Donovan McNabb is barely a mediocre quarterback." But other than that, Limbaugh pretty much spoke the truth. Limbaugh lost his job for saying in public what many football fans and analysts have been saying privately for the past couple of seasons.</p>

It was after 2am Eastern. I was watching the Red Sox get beat by the A’s because I wanted ESPN to make good on their teaser about the Donovan McNabb/Rush Limbaugh thing taking it’s first victim. When Sportscenter came on, it seemed with some fanfare, it was announced Limbaugh resigned from the NFL Countdown team. "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. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance...

Defending Limbaugh Rush was right: McNabb isn’t a great quarterback, and the media does overrate him because he is black By Allen Barra SLATE.COM Oct. 2 — In his notorious ESPN comments last Sunday night, Rush Limbaugh said he never thought the Philadelphia Eagles’ Donovan McNabb was “that good of a quarterback.” If Limbaugh were a more astute analyst, he would have been even harsher and said, “Donovan McNabb is barely a mediocre quarterback.” But other than that, Limbaugh pretty much spoke the truth. Limbaugh lost his job for saying in public what many football fans and analysts have been...

Rush Limbaugh's Comeback Strategy As a scandal, the Limbaugh Drug Affair has a reek suspiciously similar to that of the nude photos of Dr. Laura that surfaced when she became too outspoken a critic of Bill Clinton. Nonetheless the story is out there, the critical damage is already done, and since it's almost impossible to fight the kind of overwhelming schadenfreude that is now coursing through the American body politic, Limbaugh would be well advised to skip that battle and go straight to the second principle of political redemption: Americans love a repentent loser. Or to put it in more...

Most Attacks on Rush Limbaugh are Hypocritical, Opportunistic and Silly, Says Conservative Group ESPN Especially Hypocritical in Accepting Limbaugh's Resignation While Its Website Raises the Same Issue Limbaugh Did "Most of those who are excoriating Rush Limbaugh for saying what he believes about media coverage of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb are hypocritical grandstanders or opportunists," says Amy Ridenour, president of The National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative group. Ridenour cited several examples: "An ESPN spokesman said ESPN didn't think Limbaugh's comments were racially biased, yet ESPN released a statement saying Limbaugh's comments were 'insensitive and inappropriate' and...

Why black America distrusts conservatives Rush Limbaugh proved what many African-Americans fear: Even if right-wingers aren't racist, they'll kick blacks to score political points. By Robert A. George Oct. 2, 2003 Rush Limbaugh's resignation from ESPN's "NFL Countdown" should bring the immediate controversy over his comments about Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb to a mercifully quick end. However, his remarks have damaged his reputation and once again delivered another body blow to the conservative movement in the area in which it can least afford it: race. And this time it's not a creation of the liberal media; this was a...

(yes, the felons playing in the league have nothing to do with it) Lurie says ESPN to blame for negative portrayal of NFL By Dan Gelston Associated Press Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie today accused ESPN of "institutional racism" for its decision to hire Rush Limbaugh and for the portrayal of NFL players in the fictional series "Playmakers." ESPN had tarnished its image of being one of the most respected media outlets for NFL coverage for the sake of ratings, Lurie said. The hiring of Limbaugh and the show are examples of "racist potshots" toward the league, he said. "Some of...