NFL | Rush Limbaugh joins bid to buy St. Louis Rams

ST. LOUIS — Radio personality Rush Limbaugh has joined forces with Dave Checketts, owner of the NHL St. Louis Blues, in a bid to buy the St. Louis Rams, league sources confirmed.

The Limbaugh-Checketts group has made its bid on the team and plans to keep it in St. Louis.

According to league sources, there are multiple bidders for the Rams as the potential sale of the franchise has advanced to a second stage — from looking for potential buyers to evaluating the merits of bidders. It is not known who the other bidders are.

"I certainly think individual bidders have the right to discuss their interest in the club," said Kevin Demoff, the Rams' executive vice president of football operations. "There's really nothing for us to say. It's really not fair to anybody involved in the process.

"There is no inevitability for the team to wind up being for sale, anyway. There may be bidders, but that doesn't mean there will be a sale."

Checketts, the founder and chief executive officer of SCP Worldwide, a New York-based firm that owns and operates the Blues, would be the frontman for a group of investors that would purchase at minimum the 60 percent share of the Rams owned by Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez, the son and daughter of the Rams' late owner, Georgia Frontiere.

Limbaugh, a conservative political commentator, said in a statement: "Dave and I are part of a bid to buy the Rams, and we are continuing the process. But I can say no more because of a confidentiality clause in our agreement with Goldman Sachs. We cannot and will not talk about our partners. But if we prevail, we will be the operators of the team."

Limbaugh, originally from Cape Girardeau, Mo., worked briefly as a commentator for ESPN's NFL pregame show in 2003 but resigned amid controversy over his remarks about media coverage of Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb.

Forbes magazine recently valued the Rams' franchise at more than $900 million, but it is believed the Rams' sale might fetch $800 million or less given the state of the economy and the state of the team, which has lost 14 games in a row.

Notes

• Commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed he is monitoring the progress of the case concerning the alleged assault of Raiders defensive assistant Randy Hanson by another member of the team's coaching staff.

"We're closely monitoring the case and will continue to monitor the case. We like to make sure we understand what all the facts are before we comment on it," Goodell said. "When the appropriate time comes, we will speak to the coach."

Hanson reportedly told a Napa, Calif., police investigator during a 90-minute interview that he was struck in the face by Raiders coach Tom Cable on Aug. 5 and got a broken jaw as a result. Cable, a former Snohomish High School player, has said numerous times that "nothing happened."

• A federal agency blamed the collapse of the Dallas Cowboys' practice facility May 2 on a long series of design failures and warned many similar tent-like structures remain in use around the world. All of those buildings, the National Institute of Standards and Technology said, need to be checked for similar problems.

The 86-foot-tall practice facility fell apart as a Cowboys rookie camp was held during a thunderstorm.

Of approximately 70 people who were inside, 12 were injured as they tried to flee — including scouting assistant Rich Behm, who was permanently paralyzed below the waist, and special-teams coach Joe DeCamillis, who suffered a broken neck but escaped paralysis. No other buildings in the area suffered significant damage.

• Three top San Francisco 49ers executives met in person with unsigned wide receiver and first-round draft pick Michael Crabtree of Texas Tech and his agent, Eugene Parker. Crabtree, who was the 10th player drafted this year, and Parker sat down with team president Jed York, vice president of football operations Paraag Marathe and general manager Scot McCloughan.

Crabtree hasn't accepted the 49ers' long-standing offer for approximately five years and $20 million, with a reported $16 million guaranteed — instead seeking money comparable to higher picks.

• Washington, 27th in the league in scoring, hired longtime NFL assistant coach Sherman Lewis as an offensive consultant.