Summary
- NFL facing racial discrimination lawsuit over interview process
- Commissioner promises review into Rooney Rule
- Super Bowl LVI – Cincinnati Bengals vs. Los Angeles Rams on Feb 13
The National Football League (NFL) is facing a racial discriminatory lawsuit for not giving blacks and minorities sufficient opportunities to be a head coach of an NFL franchise. The lawsuit was filed by Brian Flores, former head coach of the Miami Dolphins.
The NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell addressed these employment racial discrimination allegations in his recent State of the League address. Goodell who has headed the NFL since 2006 addresses the media each year before the Super Bowl in his State of the League address. This was the first time that the Commissioner had to field questions relating to the league’s policies on hiring and racial discrimination of blacks and minorities.
This stems from the lawsuit filed by Flores who was fired by the Dolphins in Jan 2021 even though his team went on to win 8 out of their last 9 games. The Dolphins came very close to making the playoffs but that wasn’t good enough for Flores to keep his job as head coach.
Flores would later go on to interview for a head coach rule with the New York Giants but claims that the Giants conducted a sham interview as he was informed that they had already selected a head coach but were carrying out his interview in order to build stats to prove they were keeping the Rooney Rule. Flores has filed a lawsuit against the NFL, the Giants, Dolphins and the Denver Broncos.
The “Rooney Rule” was put in place in 2003 in order to ensure that the NFL was fair to minority groups. The rule stipulated the NFL franchises must interview a minimum of one minority candidate for the head coach position. The Rooney Rule has been amended twice since 2003.
Commissioner Goodell in his State of the League address said that the NFL did not condone or encourage racial discrimination in any form and at any level. He confirmed that the NFL would be taking a serious look at all its hiring policies including reviewing the Rooney Rule once again.
Goodell said that if they found any regulations that suggested discrimination, they will make immediate changes!
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