NFL to probe hiring of Gruden

ALAMEDA, California — The NFL said Thursday it will investigate whether the Oakland Raiders violated the “Rooney Rule” when they hired Jon Gruden as coach.

The Fritz Pollard Alliance called for the investigation on Wednesday out of concern that Raiders owner Mark Davis came to an agreement with Gruden before the team interviewed any minority candidates as required by the NFL since 2003.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement that the NFL will “look into this.”

Davis said Tuesday at the news conference introducing Gruden, who is white, as the team’s new coach that he had been trying to make the move for six years and finally believed it would happen after a meeting in Philadelphia on Christmas Eve. Gruden is replacing Jack Del Rio, who was fired.