Report: Rush Limbaugh to be booted from NFL bid

A group of investors hoping to buy the St. Louis Rams will drop Rush Limbaugh from their alliance, ESPN reported on Wednesday.

The sports network cites "three NFL sources" in reporting that Dave Checketts, chairman of the St. Louis Blues hockey team and head of a consortium that hopes to buy the Rams, wants Limbaugh removed from the bid because his participation would not get the necessary support of NFL team owners.

For the purchase of an NFL team to be valid, it needs the approval of three-quarters of team owners.

ESPN reported:

Earlier this week, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay predicted that Limbaugh's potential bid would be met by significant opposition. Several players have also voiced their displeasure with Limbaugh's potential ownership position, and NFL Players Association head DeMaurice Smith, who is black, urged players to speak out against Limbaugh's bid.

Ultimately, the sources said, Checketts must reconfigure his group and find another investor to make his bid more viable.

Limbaugh's bid attracted a lot of negative attention from NFL players and civil rights activists, including Rev. Al Sharpton, because of the talk show host's controversial remarks over the years about race.

Most recently, on Tuesday US House Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) asked the NFL not to allow Limbaugh to buy into the league because of the radio host's 2003 comment that the media overestimated Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb because "the media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well."

Limbaugh responded by saying Jackson Lee was "spreading lies" about him, and had "made a fool of herself" on the House floor by talking about football.

ESPN said Limbaugh had no comment on the reported plan to drop him from the Rams bid.