Every Monday from here on out,  millions of people across the country, including myself, will be ready for some football. However, we will no longer be greeted by country singer Hank Williams Jr. asking about just that.

Williams’ introduction, which had been used to open Monday Night Football broadcasts since 1991, was removed from the airwaves following controversy over comments he recently made on Fox News likening President Obama to Adolf Hitler. While the removal of Williams’ opening has spawned another firestorm—as well as ambiguity as to whether the decision was made by ESPN or Williams—it was nonetheless a call that needed to be made.

A review for those who are unaware: During an interview on “Fox and Friends,” Williams likened a golf game involving Obama and House Speaker John Boehner to “Hitler playing golf with Netanyahu.” Anchor Gretchen Carlson later remarked, “You used the name of one of the most hated people in all of the world to describe, I think, the president.”

Williams’ response? “Well, that is true. But I’m telling you like it is.”

So long, Hank. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

This isn’t a decision about sports and politics—a “misguided attempt at cross-cultural pollination,” as New York Times sports columnist William C. Rhoden so eloquently put it. This is a well-known public figure making an incredibly idiotic comment that insults the memories of over 10 million people, and there is no justification for allowing Williams to continue his MNF role without consequences.

I’m not going to turn this into a column about sports and politics, but it is a topic that necessitates mention. Suffice it to say that the intersection between the two subjects is not going away anytime soon, and it’s bound to create some awkward moments in the coming years—awkward moments like the one seven years ago when former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling threw his support to President Bush while the people who put him in a Sox uniform and signed his paychecks were out stumping for John Kerry. To reiterate, this is an issue that goes far beyond the realm of politics.

Following the initial decision to pull Williams’ introduction from the Oct. 3 broadcast, the singer issued a statement on his website stating, “By pulling my opening Oct [sic] 3rd, You (ESPN) stepped on the Toes of The First Amendment Freedom of Speech.” Well, yes, Hank, the First Amendment does give you the right to verbalize whatever garbage is going through your mind at any given moment. But I’m afraid freedom of speech doesn’t exist in a vacuum.

Let’s take a trip in the Wayback Machine to 1993. On Feb. 3 of that year, Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott was fined $250,000 and banned from the day-to-day operations of the team for the 1993 season following an investigation by Major League Baseball. A former Reds employee had allegedly overheard Schott remark that “sneaky goddamn Jews are all alike,” while an executive from another team stated in a New York Times interview that Schott had used a racial slur when talking about Reds outfielders Eric Davis and Dave Parker, who are African-American.

Schott later acknowledged using the slur—claiming it was said in jest—and proceeded to state that she failed to understand how the slur “Jap” could be offensive. Schott also stated that she felt that Hitler was good for Germany.

Now, under the First Amendment, Schott certainly had every right to say what she did. But think about the message Major League Baseball would have sent had it elected not to discipline Schott. Schott’s suspension seems like a no-brainer, right?

Well, maybe not to Hank Williams Jr.—and to many of the 49 readers who commented on Rhoden’s video on the Times website. Say what you will about the hypersensitive liberal media, but it doesn’t matter if the Hitler remark was made about Obama, Boehner, Jan Brewer, Ross Perot, or Donald Trump: ESPN did the right thing in pulling Williams’ opening that night, and as an NFL official would say, Williams, “by virtue of his actions, is disqualified from further participation.”

So come Oct. 17, I’ll be ready for some football. And I’ll also be ready for a broadcast presented by a network that, for all the criticism it receives, ultimately knows how to do the right thing.