Civil Rights leaders met with Commissioner Roger Goodell on Monday and called for the NFL to replace the current Rooney Rule.
“However well-intentioned, the effect of the Rooney Rule has been for team decision-makers to regard interviews with candidates of color as an extraneous step, rather than an integral part of the hiring process,” National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial said in a statement, noting that the NFL currently has only one Black head coach, two fewer than when the Rule was established. “The gravity of the situation is long past the crisis point.”
The Rooney Rule is a policy established in 2003 that requires teams to interview candidates of color for head coaching and senior football operation positions.
