ESPN do themselves a favor by cutting Williams loose

Hank Williams, Jr. had been a fixture of Monday Night Football since 1991.

Instead of boycotting ESPN, I am applauding them today. And quite loudly!

It was announced Thursday that ESPN will no longer be carrying Hank Williams Jr., and a version of his song "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" in the opening of Monday Night Football. They said they appreciated his contributions over the past several years and went on to say that the program's success has been about the games, and that will continue.

Williams, however, countered on his website that he was the one who made the decision. He accused ESPN of stepping on the toes of the First Amendment and freedom of speech. As a result, he said he was taking his song and his "rowdy friends" and leaving.

Williams and the song had been a fixture of Monday Night Football since 1991. But that changed following an interview on "Fox and Friends" Monday after he used an analogy linking linking President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner to Adolph Hitler and  Benjamin Netanyehu.

To put this in some context, here's what led up to this controversy.

Williams was brought on to the show to discuss politics and football. Sounds simple, right? Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson asked him if there were any candidates in the current GOP field who he liked, and he replied, "Nobody."

Instead of staying on the topic, Williams changed the subject and began ranting about a golf game where Obama and Boehner had teamed up against Vice President Joe Biden and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Williams said the match was "one of the biggest political mistakes ever" because it "turned a lot of people off." When Carlson asked why he was disgusted, Williams replied, "Come on. That'd be like Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu." ... In the country this shape is in... I mean, in the shape this country is in?"

Confused, Fox News anchor Brian Kilmeade said he didn't understand the analogy, to which Williams answered, "Well I am glad you don't, brother, because a lot of people do." Williams then went on and said, "They're the enemy." Kilmeade asked who the enemy was and Williams shouted, "Obama and Biden... Are you kidding, the three stooges." He eventually said that former Godfather's CEO Herman Cain made the most sense to be the party's nominee in 2012.

Williams made those comments in jest because of how polarized the country is. Furthermore, he didn't believe that Obama and Boehner, who will probably never see eye to eye on anything in politics, shouldn't be teammates in a friendly round of golf. Carlson pounced on that remark and reminded Williams he had just used the most hated name in all the world to describe what she thought was his reference to Obama. "That is true," Williams said. "But I am telling you like it is."

Right after that, the show's anchors began talking about Monday Night Football with a caption linking him to the program and the NFL. It was after the interview that ESPN announced that they dropped Williams opening musical number from its Monday Night Football broadcast of the Indianapolis Colts verses the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and replaced it with the National Anthem.

Following the announcement came thousands of comments on the story calling for a boycott of ESPN and questioning whether ESPN supported the First Amendment and freedom of speech. And unfairly, many users commenting on the story insinuated that Obama and the White House had something to do with the decision.

On Tuesday, Williams seemed defiant by acknowledging his analogy was extreme. But he said he was misunderstood and trying to explain how ludicrous the golf pairing of Obama and Boehner was when they're polar opposites. He then went on to bash the press for painting tea party activists as a bunch of racists and extremists.

Williams went on to say that he respected the office of the President, and continued that the press paints the tea party as racist and extremist without any backlash to those comparisons. "Working-class people are hurting - and it doesn't seem like anybody care. When both sides are high-fiving it on the ninth hole when everybody else is without a job - it makes a lot of us angry. Something has to change. The policies have to change."

Later that day, he posted an apology on his website. The full context of the apology stated: "I have always been very passionate about Politics and Sports and this time it got the Best or Worst of me. The thought of the Leaders of both Parties Jukin and High Fiven on a Golf course, while so many Families are Struggling to get by simply made me Boil over and make a Dumb statement and I am very Sorry if it Offended anyone. I would like to Thank all my supporters. This was Not written by some Publicist.”

I can only assume Williams made that apology to save face and continue earning royalties from the company. But when ESPN announced Thursday the relationship was terminated, Williams pouted, claimed free speech violations, and took his song home.

I am sure there will be a lot of calls for boycotting ESPN and Disney (who owns ESPN) from country music fans and conservative activists claiming the company violated Williams' First Amendment rights. After all, he made the comments on the Fox News Channel and not ESPN.

However, I am not as sympathetic. You see, any time people make comments out for public consumption, the free market has a way of helping or hurting them. It's happened to numerous politicians, artists, and other celebrities.

In 2003, the Dixie Chicks experienced a huge backlash in the U.S. after the group's singer Natalie Maines said they were ashamed to be from the same state as then-President George W. Bush. They didn't support the war in Iraq and made it known in London 10 days before the war officially began. They didn't even come close to comparing Bush to Hitler. Yet the very statement of them saying they were ashamed of the President led to accusations of the Dixie Chicks being "un-American", and also led to hate mail, death threats, and public destruction of their albums from country radio stations around the country.

Controversial comments may lead to suspensions or even dismissals from one's employer (just ask Keith Olbermann). Williams was never an employee of ESPN. But they used his services during the opening of Monday Night Football the last 20 years.

Had he been a bit more diplomatic in the beginning and not used the Obama/Hitler analogy, this wouldn't be a story. In fact, I can't say that I blame Williams for being upset about Obama and Boehner playing golf together instead of trying to fix the economy and helping people get back to work.

But now Williams comes off as some belligerent guy finding any way to make Obama look like a bad person. Williams used his celebrity from ESPN and the NFL to make this point on Fox News. As a result, ESPN decided to cut off his gravy train and make him earn his living another way.

After reading his statement saying he pulled his music, the only question I am asking now is why Williams has to be such a crybaby about this? The same goes for his supporters on this issue.

He made ESPN and the NFL look bad. Image matters in business, politics, and sports.

Furthermore, Williams is not going to look like a good candidate for the Republican Party's nomination for the U.S. Senate in Tennessee in 2012 if he decides to run. You can only play the "victim card" for so long before the public wises up and the opponent - in this case U.S. Sen. Bob Corker - coasts to an easy primary victory.

But most importantly, Williams' music is awful and not suited for football. It's better suited for NASCAR and I am positive he could think of some creative ways to work in "gentlemen, start your engines" into one of his songs.