The president of the conservative media watchdog organization Media Research Center, Brent Bozell, called for CNN and MSNBC to prove Limbaugh said the offending statement, or retract and apologize for repeating it. On October 16, 2009, both CNN and MSNBC issued statements regarding their restating the quotes attributed to Limbaugh. "We should not have reported it – not have reported it – without independent confirmation, and for that I apologize," said CNN's Rick Sanchez. "MSNBC attributed that quote to a football player who was opposed to Limbaugh's NFL bid. However, we have been unable to verify that quote independently. So, just to clarify," said David Shuster in a clarification on MSNBC. Fox News Channel reported on October 17, 2009 that multiple legal analysts stated Limbaugh could file a libel lawsuit in order to prove he did not say the words attributed to him.