A recent Associated Press article has brought up the question of whether NFL teams are properly complying with the Rooney Rule. The real question, however, is whether teams are making a mockery of it.
Established in 2003, the Rooney Rule requires teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operations positions. Events in D.C. and Seattle are bringing the compliance question into play.
Redskins secondary coach Jerry Gray interviewed for the top job in Washington, paving the way for the Skins to hire Mike Shanahan a few days after firing Jim Zorn. But Gray interviewed for the job during the season — while Zorn still was head coach. And his meetings were with executive vice president Vinny Cerrato, who later resigned, and not with current general manager Bruce Allen.
It’s a stretch to think that Gray ever had a shot at the top job in Washington. But the real charade is in Seattle, where the Seahawks fired head coach Jim Mora and immediately began negotiations with USC’s Pete Carroll. Amid reports that Carroll and the Seahawks already had agreed to a deal in principle, Seattle brass rushed Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier into town to satisfy the Rooney Rule, even though it was widely believed that Carroll would be hired anyway.
So who’s to blame for this mockery? The NFL? The teams? The watchdog group? It’s more likely that everyone shares responsibility, down to the assistants who agree to the interviews. Frazier must know he’s a pawn in this process. Meanwhile, there needs to be a crackdown on back-room deals that are made before all rules are satisfied.
If I’m not considered a serious candidate for a job then I’m rejecting the interview. And if the NFL wants to prevent a noble cause from going down the toilet, they’ll have to consider revamping the parameters of the Rooney Rule.
