Three days after the country music singer Hank Williams Jr. referred to Hitler while talking about President Obama, ESPN on Thursday permanently cut his opening song to “Monday Night Football,” which includes the catchphrase “Are you ready for some football?”

ESPN dropped the song from its presentation of the Colts-Buccaneers game Monday night in response to Williams’s remarks, and then deliberated about taking further action.

ESPN said Thursday that it was its decision to end a long association with Williams, but he disputed that on his Web site: “After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made my decision. By pulling my opening Oct. 3, you (ESPN) stepped on the toes of the First Amendment freedom of speech, so therefore me, my song and all my rowdy friends are out of here. It’s been a great run.”

Williams may not be right about his First Amendment rights being violated, but Bruce W. Sanford, a First Amendment expert at the law firm Baker Hostetler, said he “wouldn’t pounce too hard on him for not being a constitutional lawyer.”