CALLER: Ive listened to you since September 11th, and I find that I almost always agree with you. Id say I only disagree with you about 1.5% of the time coincidentally enough. But the reason Im calling today, sir, is I wanted to get your thoughts regarding what LaDainian Tomlinson had to say about Bill Belichick this past week.
RUSH: Okay, Im going to take your call, Im going to use this to expand the answer to incorporate all of the National Football League if you dont mind.
CALLER: Not at all.
RUSH: To set the table for people who do not know, after the Chargers and Patriots game, the Chargers sitting around moping, all depressed, because they had the game won, it was just all kinds of stupid mistakes, and let me tell you what happened. Some of the Patriots went to midfield where the Chargers logo is and started doing an imitation of a victory dance done by Chargers player Shawne Merriman after he sacks a quarterback. Now, here are the Chargers who have lost a game they should have won, who lost a game precisely because of the same kind of behavior theyre ripping the Patriots for, and LaDainian Tomlinson says that was classless, (paraphrasing) We went in there, we beat them twice on their field and we didnt disrespect them. This obviously comes from the head coach, meaning Belichick. LaDainian Tomlinson was accusing Belichick of ordering his players and creating a culture that would make it okay for players to go on the field and taunt and so forth and so on.
Now, LaDainian Tomlinson to me is the classiest player in the National Football League. He doesnt do a dance, he doesnt spike the ball when he scores. He and Marvin Harrison are the two most classy individuals playing in the National Football League today, in skill positions. They just hand the ball back to the referee. They act like theyve been there and done that, like scoring a touchdown is no big deal, they dont taunt, they dont act like theyve been dissed or any of this. Let me tell you, the Chargers would not have lost that game were it not for a bunch of I gotta be very careful here. Its not just irresponsible, but there is a cultural problem in the NFL that has resulted in a total lack of class on the part of professional players.
There was a play where Brady was third and long, he was sacked, fumbled the ball, the Patriots recovered it, it will be fourth and long, forcing an interesting decision late in the game by the Patriots. After the play is over, a Chargers player gets in the face of a Patriots player, head butts him and starts jawing. This is the reason these guys are getting shot in bars, folks, late at night. Fifteen-yard penalty, automatic first down. So for the Chargers to complain about the lack of class by the Patriots, I found laughable. I think something ought to be done about it, because I love the game of football, and I dont like the kind of culture thats taking over, that you cant diss me, you cant disrespect me. After every sack, players are acting like theyve won the Super Bowl, and theyre prancing around with these idiotic dances. The latest thing is to act like theyre making a jump shot in basketball. Its all done to taunt; its all done to taunt the other teams fans.
I dont want boring football. I dont want the no-fun league, but you can certainly have great football games without a lack of class. I dont know how its been allowed to happen this way. I guess the coaches dont feel confident to continue this was very rare for the Patriots to act the way they did, and who knows what led to it. I dont think of Belichick as that kind of coach, but Tomlinsons words reverberated around the league. A lot of people said, Im glad he said something, because Belichick is getting away here with an image that he doesnt deserve. Ive played golf with Belichick; hes a mild-mannered, soft-spoken man. I even saw him at a cocktail party here in Palm Beach before dinner one night. That whole organization to me exudes class, as does Tom Brady, and you dont see them doing this kind of stuff.
One of the reasons the Pittsburgh Steelers had trouble this year was a total lack of discipline, in addition to all their turnovers, total lack of discipline, 15-yard penalties, unnecessary roughness, taunting after plays are over, after successful defensive stands, they blow it. Theres something culturally wrong here that is leading to all this. Its gotta be dealt with at the top, because it simply is classless. I can I understand LaDainian Tomlinson being upset because he doesnt do this stuff. But in the current NFL climate the best way for the Chargers to prevent that from happening is win the game and keep this insidious, ridiculous, boorish, classless behavior to a minimum so that you dont lose it on account of that. Its just disappointing, and its a mystery to me why its being allowed to continue. Well, actually, I understand partially why it continues, and thats because of ESPN.
ESPN lives off this. ESPN created Terrell Owens. Terrell Owens is who he is, but if Terrell Owens werent constantly on television with his antics after touchdowns I remember, I called this. You remember the Monday night game on ABC and Seattle when after scoring a touchdown, T.O. playing for the Fortiners, pulls a Sharpie out of his sock, autographs the ball and gives it to somebody. I said, Folks, this is going to lead to nothing but trouble. Everybody said, Come on, Rush, lighten up, that was funny. It was classless. Go back and look at the greats who played this game. They would not do anything of the sort, maybe hand the ball off, but not pull a Sharpie out. Everybody started to talk about how much fun that was, ooh, how cool, how creative. Then we get Joe Horn of the United States Saints after he scored a touchdown pulling a cell phone out of his socks and faked making a phone call. Well, guess what shows up on ESPN? So these guys get validated, everybody wants to stand out, they want to get endorsement deals and so forth. So television, making stars out of people who engage in classless behavior helps lead to it and contribute to it. No question in my mind about it. Ill bet the guy that called from El Paso did not expect this as an answer.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Look it, let me put it to you this way. The NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons. There, I said it.
