One month before Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney was officially sworn in last week as the U.S. ambassador to Ireland, he successfully advocated for another expansion of the “Rooney Rule.”
Now, the provision governing interviews for head-coaching positions mandates that NFL teams interview at least one minority candidate for certain high-level football positions in the front office.
And John Wooten, a former Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles executive who’s the chairman of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, saluted Rooney’s commitment toward increasing diversity in the NFL.
“We have been pushing for this for quite a while. It’s something that is just really, really meaningful,” said Wooten, per Christopher L. Gasper of the Boston Globe. “Mr. Rooney called me last Sunday afternoon to say goodbye. I can’t even tell you in words the impact of what this man has done.
“The years that I’ve known him and since he’s been the diversity chairman, the work and the things he’s done I can’t even enumerate for you. It’s been a godsend. Hopefully, the new chairman will realize what he’s done and try to match it.”
With Rooney operating as chairman of the league’s diversity committee, six out of the NFL’s current 32 head coaches are black, with five African-Americans holding senior executive/G.M. positions.
I get the rule…but 9 times outta 10 they have a general idea of who they want and if they bring in a minority candidate by force it seems almost demeaning.
We really need to get some women in the mix!
These horribly misguided attempts at eliminating racial discrimination by promoting a different sort of racial discrimination are so laughably racist, it really shines a light on how dumb most people are, that they believe these measures to be laudable.
There is zero racial discrimination in a true meritocracy.
What about the legal issues involved? Last election, Nebraska voters passed a resolution that banned affirmative action in the state. Of course, Nebraska doesn’t have an NFL team, but it’s only a matter of time until a state that does passes a similar bill. What will the NFL do then? I can’t see them getting an exception for that legally, because the anti-trust case doesn’t really apply here. Will they allow an exception to the Rooney Rule, will they eliminate it entirely, or will they make it “strongly recommended”?
u laugh, hawg but someone has plans to jam women hispanics assians and gays in there too. they always do.
Will the rule address tryouts for Caucasian defensive backs?
I’m all for staged fairness, it is what the NFL is built on.
Bunch of crap.
I agree with the majority of posts so far. Racism to combat racism is wrong. Morality can’t be legislated.
Shouldn’t a non-black be tried out for all open running back positions? Ha.
Dan Rooney is a class act and oversees the best organization in the league. His work for diversity in the upper ranks of the NFL should be aplauded. Rooney practices what he preaches i.e. last years superbowl champion head coach Mike Tomlin here’s to hoping the next Ozzie Newsome comes from Rooney’s efforts.
About time this excellent rule was expanded to include the siuts,well done.
Personally, I’m totally against the Rooney Rule. Teams should be allowed to interview and hire the people who they think are best qualified with race being a non factor in the process.
I have my own version of the “Rooney Rule”. Let’s make it mandatory that at least 70% of any president’s ambassadorial nominees have actual foreign policy experience?
of course the fritz pollard alliance approves of this – its an organization who’s only real raison d’etre at this point is highlighting an age of racism gone past.
racism from the top is pretty much completely eradicated from the NFL – and owners & coaches most definitely do not hire based on color of skin, but rather records, experience, recomendations, etc….
this is just perpetuating a perceived racial issue that doesn’t exist. so of course the Fritz Pollard alliance will rave about it – if they didn’t make a big deal about non-issues, the people that work at this “alliance” wouldn’t have jobs.