Hank Williams Jr. was on “Fox and Friends” Monday morning and said this:

He was promptly sacked from last night’s broadcast of Monday Night Football:

Hank Williams, Jr., the voice famous for asking millions of football fans whether they’re ready for some football, has been pulled from tonight’s broadcast of “Monday Night Football” over a comment he made on Fox News this morning.

Williams, who sings the lead-in song to the game each week, criticized the president for his golf summit with House Speaker John Boehner this summer.

“It would be like Hitler playing golf with (Israeli leader) Benjamin Netanyahu,” Williams told “Fox & Friends.”

USA Today, among others, picked up the quote, speculating on whether the comparison would get Williams booted from the broadcast .

This afternoon, ESPN released a statement to the affirmative:

“While Hank Williams, Jr. is not an ESPN employee, we recognize that he is closely linked to our company through the open to Monday Night Football. We are extremely disappointed with his comments, and as a result we have decided to pull the open from tonight’s telecast.”

ESPN was fine when its Las Vegas radio affiliate joked about, and seemingly advocated for, the rape of Sarah Palin just a few weeks ago.

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What do a Hall of Fame football coach and broadcaster, an overnight British vocal sensation, and several hundred thousand American taxpayers have in common?  Quite a bit, as it turned out last week.  Not because any of them had anything to do with each other specifically.  Rather, it is what each of them represents individually and the disdain they draw from their misdirected critics.

After 30 years in the TV broadcast booth, John Madden announced his retirement from professionally commenting on a game he once professionally coached.  Even a casual or non-fan can review Madden’s resume and appreciate his accomplishments and lifetime commitment to the game of football.  He was a high school and college stand-out player.   Though his professional career as a player was cut short due to injury, Madden spent nearly 20 years as a college and professional coach before spending the next three decades on all four major television networks.  If you’re doing the math, that’s over 50 years of football for the 73 year old.  He won a Super Bowl and never had a losing season as a head coach.  Not to mention the endorsement deals and the multi-million dollar football video game franchise bearing his name. (more…)