We taped earlier this morning a PFT Daily segment that sets forth our concerns regarding whether the Redskins violated the spirit of the Rooney Rule by announcing the resignation of Vinny Cerrato and the hiring of Bruce Allen barely an hour apart.
But compliance with the spirit of the Rooney Rule and compliance with the letter of it are two different things.
The official word from the league and the Redskins is that the team respected the requirement that at least one minority candidate be interviewed for the G.M. position.
Initially, we contacted NFL spokesman Greg Aiello for more information. He directed us to the Redskins for an answer. (In the interim, we were told that the Redskins had complied with the Rooney Rule, but our source did not identify the minority candidate(s) who interviewed for the job.)
Contacted by e-mail, Redskins spokesman Zack Bolno advises that the team “over-complied” with the requirements of the Rooney Rule.
But, still, no one will tell us the name(s) of the candidate(s) who interviewed.
“It would not be fair to the other candidates to disclose their names,” Bolno said.
Fine, but it’s not fair to the process to suddenly swap out General Managers without any potentially interested and qualified candidates even knowing that the job might be available.
We’ll have a lot more to say on this one, because there’s something about it that doesn’t pass the smell test -- and I’ve confirmed that it’s not because I forgot to apply deodorant. Again.