If only he had reined in his mouth, Eddie McGuire would still be known as the sideline hero who helped Adam Goodes resolve the ape remark of a young Collingwood fan. But with his King Kong remark on Wednesday morning, ironically just five days after he praised and glorified Mr Goodes, Mr McGuire had given racism a face in Australia.

Nobody in the history of Australian football, in general, saw it coming. Luke Darcy, Mr McGuire's co-host on the Triple M radio program, even cringed when the Collingwood president made the remark. For one, there is no known bad blood going on between the two gentlemen.

A figure attuned to controversy, Mr McGuire definitely placed himself in more than just a tub this time.

The problem with Mr McGuire, "all too often he can't open his mouth without putting a size 12 football boot in it," an unidentified source told The Guardian. The person was described as a former Nine Network colleague who had worked with Mr McGuire.

Read: Adam Goodes Suffers Another Racism Rant This Time from Eddie McGuire

Immediately after realizing his below-the-belt racist rant on Wednesday, Mr McGuire took it back on the same day within the same hour. And again, on the following day.

"I'm not going to sit here today and cry into my corn flakes and things like that," Mr McGuire said Thursday morning.

"I face up to things because that's the way you do things. You attack things face on and when you make a mistake you admit it and try to do the right thing which is always been what I try to do in every phase of my life."

Damage Done

But the great damage had been done. After all, it's not everyday that a big public figure ridiculously puts himself in such a situation. Mr Goodes, albeit disappointed with Mr McGuire's explanation that he had just been tired that's why he uttered the racist slur, had, despite with still a heavy heart, accepted the latter's apology.

''It has cut me to the core. I put my foot in it. I'm happy to cop any criticism. I could not be more sorry. I did the wrong thing, not intentionally, but nevertheless it caused hurt.''

As expected, the AFL had stepped into the raucous and had ordered an investigation into Mr McGuire.

''Mr McGuire's ill-judged comments have clearly compounded the hurt caused to Mr Goodes by the incident last Friday night," AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou.

Although a club president, Mr McGuire's position however does not exempt his from whatever perceive immunity.

'I think Eddie's going to have to live with this for a long time,'' Swans chairman Richard Colless said.

"What Eddie McGuire said was wrong, wrong, wrong, unacceptable, unacceptable, unacceptable. That's the end of the story," Chair of the ABC's Indigenous advisory board Charlie King said.

"Anyone who associates Adam Goodes with King Kong has got some problems."

Time to Shape Up

What's more disappointing, according to Mr Colless, was that just five days ago, here was Mr McGuire praising and defending Mr Goodes against their club's fan. It was such a momentous moment that he thought would become ''a seminal moment in bridging the divide between black and white."

''White Australians must understand that there are things that cause grievous emotional pain to indigenous Australians, and we think in a way a lot of that's been undone five days later,'' Mr Colless said.

The bubble had burst. The racist defender had become the perpetrator.

Divided Ranks

Reports had insinuated that Mr McGuire had welcome the thought of stepping down not only as president of Collingwood but also from his other media positions while the AFL investigation is ongoing.

However, it would not be a surprise if he gets permanently bumped off as Collingwood president, judging from the several tweets hurled against him by their very own Magpies player Harry O'Brien, inlcuding: ''It doesn't matter if you are a school teacher, a doctor or even the president of my football club I will not tolerate racism, nor should we as a society."

"Do you know what bothers me about this? The powerful members of society are almost untouchable when it comes to these kinds of things," Mr Charlie said.

"Everyone's afraid if they say anything about Eddie McGuire, it's going to come back to bite them on the bum because he's the man who signs the cheques.

"I'm not in that space. I'm in a space where I look at what people say and see that's unacceptable. It offends me, it worries me for my children, it worries me for my family, it worries me for my community and for all Australians if people are allowed to say those things and we excuse them."