QB RUMBLES WHILE RUSH STUMBLES

Earlier this month, I met Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme. He's the
kind of guy you wouldn't mind seeing rack up 20 miles of yardage
against Philly on Sunday.

But if anyone deserves a Super Bowl, it's Eagles quarterback Donovan
McNabb.

Earlier this year, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh said on TV that
McNabb was overrated, and despite taking the Eagles to two straight
NFC title games was only considered a top-flight NFL player by media
members who wanted a black quarterback to succeed.

Right.

Rush's comments were inane. Nobody in the media much cares whether
McNabb is black, white, pink or green. Nobody in Philadelphia looks
much beyond the fact that McNabb makes the Eagles one of the league's
best teams.

This isn't exactly the Jackie Robinson story. A fourth of NFL starting
quarterbacks at the end of the year were black.

So let's do this. Let's go back to Sept. 28 and compare Rush's season
with McNabb's.

The Eagles have soared to a 13-2 record since Limbaugh's comments,
including last Sunday's heroics by McNabb in the win against Green
Bay.

Rush? He took himself out of the game and went on the DL, exposing
himself as a pill-popping hypocrite.

A few days after his dismissal of McNabb, Rush was fingered by an
ex-housekeeper for being hooked on prescription drugs. With the law on
him, he ducked into a treatment center.

He said he wouldn't make excuses for his problems, but that's exactly
what he did. He blamed the Democrats for the ongoing investigation
into his drug habit. Four doctors that treated him had their medical
records seized.

"The Democrats in this country still cannot defeat me in the arena of
political ideas," he said, "and so now they are trying to do so in the
court of public opinion."

Great audible.

This from a partisan pundit who preached personal responsibility to
all sorts of criminal types, especially those with drug problems.

Until he got a drug problem.

Meanwhile, McNabb quietly responded to the furor Limbaugh started with
some of the best games of his career. He carried the Eagles in their
epic battle last Sunday with the Packers, running for an NFL QB
playoff record 107 yards, while throwing for 248 yards and two TDs.

Rush, on the other hand, opened his mouth. A few days later, so did
his maid. The timing seems way too convenient. He's back on the air
now, but these drug-related problems strip-mined his moral high ground
if not his talent.

McNabb did his job this year. Limbaugh failed at his.

Maybe El Rushbo hopes Delhomme can shake the rap that a white Panthers
quarterback can't win an NFC title game in cold weather.

I hope the Panthers get to Houston, but it wouldn't bother me to see
McNabb win a Super Bowl.

I wish Rush luck in his recovery. Maybe a slice of karmic humble pie
served up a la McNabb will help him along.