NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told teams on Saturday that the league will look to strengthen policies that encourage the hiring of minorities, especially as head coaches, and he promised an investigation into the tanking allegations raised by Brian Flores in his discrimination lawsuit against the NFL.
“We will reevaluate and examine all policies, guidelines, and initiatives relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion, including gender,” Goodell wrote in a memo to the league’s 32 clubs obtained by the Associated Press.
The commissioner went on to say that the league’s record on hiring minority coaches is “unacceptable.”
The memo came just five days after Flores sued the league and three teams for alleged racist hiring practices for coaches and general managers, claiming that the league is still “rife with racism” despite publicly condemning it.
The two-decade-old Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview minority candidates for positions such as head coach and general manager, is the NFL’s main avenue for increasing diversity in its leadership ranks. Despite the rule, the league currently has one Black head coach: Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin. In a league where more than 70% of players are Black or another ethnic minority, there are no Black team owners, only a few Black general managers, and only a few Black coordinators.
Outside experts, as well as “current and former players and coaches, advocates, and other authorities in this area,” according to Goodell, will be included in the league’s review. Our goal is straightforward: to make our efforts and those of the clubs more effective so that real and measurable results can be obtained.”
Flores’ attorneys said in a statement that while Goodell’s memo appears to be a positive first step toward confronting systemic racism in the league, they “suspect it is more of a public relations ploy than a genuine commitment to change.”
Despite back-to-back winning seasons, Flores, who is Black, was fired as Miami’s coach last month. In a class-action lawsuit filed this week, he named the NFL and three teams — the Miami Dolphins, Denver Broncos, and New York Giants — alleging unfair hiring practices in the NFL.
Following the filing of the lawsuit, the league stated that it would defend itself against claims that it deemed “without merit.” Flores’ allegations were also denied by the Dolphins, Broncos, and Giants.
In his memo, Goodell took a kinder tone toward Flores’ claims.
“We understand Coach Flores’ and others’ concerns this week.” While the legal process is ongoing, the commissioner stated, “we will not wait to reassess and modify our strategies to ensure that they are consistent with our values and longstanding commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
Flores’ most serious allegation is that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross told him he would pay him $100,000 for every loss during the coach’s first season because the owner wanted the team to “tank” in order to get the first overall draft pick. The Dolphins finished 5-11 that season, while the Cincinnati Bengals finished 2-14 and used the No. 1 pick on quarterback Joe Burrow, who led the team to this year’s Super Bowl.
“We also take any issue relating to the integrity of NFL games seriously,” Goodell wrote in his letter. “These issues will be thoroughly and independently investigated.” As this work progresses, we anticipate that these independent experts will receive full cooperation from everyone associated with the league or any member club.”
On Thursday, Ross pledged his team’s full cooperation in an investigation, calling Flores’ accusations “false, malicious, and defamatory.”
Flores also claimed that the Broncos and Giants staged sham interviews, with Denver doing so in 2019 and New York doing so during the current hiring cycle. Many teams, according to critics of the Rooney Rule, complied with the rule by interviewing minority candidates they had no intention of hiring.
“There is a lot of work to be done.” I wish there was an easy solution. “I wish there was a silver bullet for some of these problems,” Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan, a Pakistani American, said on Saturday. “But, to be honest, I think it says as much about America as anything else.”
The Jaguars held two interviews with Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, who is Black, for the position of head coach, but negotiations fell through, and Jacksonville hired Doug Pederson, the fifth white coach Khan has hired in as many opportunities as owner of the Jaguars.
Flores’ attorneys, Douglas H. Wigdor and John Elefterakis, said they were skeptical that Goodell’s memo would result in meaningful changes and urged a court or government agency to appoint a federal monitor to oversee the league.
“For far too long, the NFL has hid behind foundations that were supposed to protect the rights of Black players and coaches, all while allowing systemic racial bias to fester in its front offices,” the attorneys said in a statement. “The NFL is now re-enacting the same playbook, which is precisely why this lawsuit was filed.”