ESPN on Monday yanked Hank Williams Jr.'s "Are You Ready for Football" theme from its Monday Night Football telecast after Williams earlier in the day likened President Obama to Hitler. The company issued a statement saying, "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." It was not clear whether the cable sports network's decision affected just Monday night's telecast or all future Monday Night Football telecasts. An unapologetic Williams later released a statement saying that "some of us have strong opinions and are often misunderstood" and insisting that he has "always respected the office of the president." He then went on to attack the media for what he suggested was a policy of double standards. "Every time the media brings up the tea party it's painted as racist and extremists - but there's never a backlash - no outrage to those comparisons," he said.

04/10/2011