RUSH: We’ve had two weeks of the NFL now.  Opening night ratings down, the Thursday night opener between the Broncos and the Panthers down. Then the first Sunday night game down, then the first Monday night.  The Steelers are normally ratings gold.  They have the biggest national fan base outside the Cowboys it’s close, nip and tuck.  That game, Steelers-Redskins was down compared to last year and compared to previous years. 

Week 2 comes along, all the prime time games down again, the Sunday night prime time game on NBC down.  Monday night NFL, that was a yawner.  The Bears and the Eagles.  And so now we’ve got two weeks of data, the NFL’s numbers are down between 11 and 12, 14%.  They tell you that they’re not, no, no, we are not panicking yet, of course not, because they are still miles ahead of anything else on TV at the time, but you still can’t miss the trend. 

And, you know, it’s funny because all these sportswriters are ringing their hands trying to explain it.  What in the world? Why?  We don’t quite understand it, and so they’re asking, is it because Brady is suspended?  Is it because there aren’t that many star quarterbacks like what’s his name in Dallas?  Dak Prescott, right.  There’s no star running back in Dallas, and there’s no — I mean, that’s what the sportswriters are asking.  The answer is right in front of their face. 

I mean the sportswriters, if you really want to know, the sports media is contributing to the ratings decline by virtue of the way they’ve decided to report on the game.  The NFL front office are the Republicans, and the players are the victimized minorities, the referees are the cops, and that’s how football’s being reported today.  And football, sports, is where people go to get away from that garbage.  Fantasy football, the word “fantasy,” football, sports, that’s where you go to get away from all of that that you can’t escape the other days of the week. 

But with media bringing all of this cultural and societal stuff straight into the league and the players helping out by acting like victims and perpetrators gives the media the perfect opportunity to write about football as though it’s not football, it’s just another element of American culture where there’s racism and bigotry and rich Republicans who don’t respect people and what have you.  And they won. 

So you have guys like Kaepernick.  Colin Kaepernick, if it weren’t for football, would have to go out and get a loan to buy a car like anybody else.  It doesn’t wash.  Colin Kaepernick, a second string quarterback, trying to become famous for wanting everybody know he doesn’t think this is any great place and he doesn’t think it’s any great flag, and they think that people are gonna just ignore this or embrace it?  And then other players want to get in on the action and start copycatting this? 

Then you’ve got members of the military saying, “You NFL players, you really want to compare yourselves to what we do?  You really think you’re brave sitting down for the national anthem?  You really think you’ve got courage by putting your fist in the air when the anthem’s playing?  You think because you put on shoulder pads and a helmet that you’re brave and courageous?  Try body armor and an AK-47 at minimum wage with people shooting bullets at you instead of throwing footballs at you.” 

This is what people are saying.  And I, El Rushbo, ever prescient, back on 9/11.  Well, August 30th, when Kaepernick first started this caper.  I want to repeat, I want you to listen, ’cause I issued the following warning which looks like, after two weeks of data, that it might have been on to something.

RUSH ARCHIVE:  You players in the NFL, you can go ahead and try to continue stealing the stage of the NFL if you want.  You can take the example of Kaepernick and you can try to get some news coverage, you can draw attention to yourself, but you run the risk of obliterating the stage on which you perform that earns you your living and gives you the opportunity to succeed beyond your wildest dreams.

You better be careful in what and how you express your thoughts on this country, the greatest place in the history of mankind.  And the residents of this country are among the luckiest in the history of all humanity.  The National Football League is on TV.  It can easily be turned off.  The National Football League is sponsored by beer and cars and soft drinks that can easily be not purchased.  It’s not that hard.  Just turn it off.

RUSH:  And go do something else.  It’s not that hard.  And people apparently, now, after two weeks are demo’ing that.  We’ll see when Brady comes back in Cleveland in a couple of weeks, whether he can revive the — I’m being facetious, of course.