The Nepotism Football League continues to live up to its name.
In Washington, the latest keep-it-in-the-family hire comes from coach Jay Gruden hiring his brother Jon’s son, Deuce Gruden, to serve as a strength-coach intern, according to Dan Sternberg of the Washington Post.
Coaches hiring children and other family members has become a way of life in the NFL, presumably because nepotism has been commonplace among the ranks of team ownership since the NFL was founded nearly 100 years ago. But with owners, where the choices are to pass the franchise to a son or daughter or sell it, nepotism is natural. It’s not as natural when an employee who doesn’t hold equity in the operation does it.
The practice is nevertheless accepted by most owners, who apparently believe it would be hypocritical to prohibit coaches from grooming family members when ownership is doing the exact same thing.