Goodell says NFL to review hiring
Response to lawsuit by fired Black coach
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told teams Saturday that the league will look to bolster policies meant to encourage hiring of minorities, particularly as head coaches, and he pledged an investigation into tanking allegations raised by Brian Flores in his discrimination lawsuit againstthe NFL.
“We will reevaluate and examine all policies, guidelines and initiatives relating to diversity, equity and inclusion, includingas they relate to gender,”Goodell wrote in a memo to the league’s 32 clubs that was obtained by The AssociatedPress.
The commissioner added thatthe league’s record on hiring minority coaches has been“unacceptable .”
The memo came five days after Flores sued the league and three teams over alleged racist hiring practices for coaches and general managers,saying the league remains “rife with racism” even as it publiclycondemns it.
TheNFL’s main avenue for increasing diversity in its leadershipranks is the two-decade-old Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview minority candidates for jobs includinghead coach and general manager. Despite the rule, there is currently one Black head coach in the league: The Steelers’ Mike Tomlin. There are no Black team owners, a handful of Black GMs and relatively few Black coordinator sin a league where more than 70% of players are Black or another ethnicminority.
Goodell said the league will include outside experts in its review along with “current and former players and coaches, advocates and other authoritiesin this area.”
In a statement, Flores’ attorneys said while Goodell’s memo appears to be a positive first step in confronting systemic racism in the league, they “suspect that is it more of a public relations ploy than realcommitment to change.”
Flores, who is Black, was fired as Miami’s coach last month despite back-to-back winning seasons. He named the league and three teams — theDolphins, Denver Broncos and New York Giants — in a class-action lawsuit this week alleging unfair hiring practicesin the NFL.
After the lawsuit was filed, the league said it would defend itself against claims it saidwere “without merit.”
Goodell took a softer approach to Flores’ claims in his memo.
“We understand the concerns expressed by Coach Flores and others this week. While the legal process moves forward, we will not wait to re assess and modify our strategies to ensure that they are consistent with our values and longstanding commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion,” the commissioner wrote.
Flores’ most serious allegation is his claim that Ross told him he would pay him $100,000 for every loss during the coach’s first season because the owner wanted the club to “tank” so it could get the top draft pick. The Dolphins went 5-11 that year; the Cincinnati Bengals went 2-14 and used the No. 1 pick on quarterbackJoe Burrow.
“We also take seriously any issuerelating to the integrity of NFL games,” Goodell’s letter said. “These matters will be reviewed thoroughly and independently. We expect that these independent experts will receive full cooperation from everyone associated with the league or any member club as thisworkproceeds.”
Flores also contended that the Broncos and Giants conducted sham interviews. Critics of the Rooney Rule have long contended that many teams complied with the rule byinterviewing minority candidates they had no intention ofhiring.