The Rooney Rule didn’t save the NFL
Super Bowl weekend is almost here, and while the National Football League would probably like us to talk about the big game, we’re discussing its hiring practices.
Last week, the recently fired head coach of the Miami Dolphins, Brian Flores, filed a lawsuit against the NFL alleging, among other things, that it discriminates against Black coaches. Currently, there’s one Black head coach in the league.
The Rooney Rule was supposed to increase diversity within coaching staffs by requiring teams to interview at least one minority job candidate. But not much has changed in the two decades since that rule has been in place.
“People in other industries brought the Rooney Rule to their industries because they saw it in the NFL. And so if you have the place where the rule was essentially born falling down in the job with respect to implementing the rule, then there’s going to be less confidence in the rule elsewhere,” said N. Jeremi Duru, professor of sports law at American University and author of the book “Advancing the Ball: Race, Reformation, and the Quest for Equal Coaching Opportunity in the NFL.”
In the News Fix, we’ll stick with today’s sporty theme and talk about Olympic gold medalist skier Eileen Gu and how she’s managed to walk a political tightrope amid tensions between the U.S. and China. Also, we’re keeping an eye on the U.S.-Canadian border.
Later, a shoutout to Kimberly’s hometown and a special announcement about our Economics on Tap YouTube livestream.
Here’s everything we talked about today:
- “Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores sues NFL and its teams, alleging racial discrimination” from The Washington Post
- “Roger Goodell: Results of NFL’s coaching diversity efforts ‘unacceptable’” from ESPN
- “The NFL’s Black Coaches Should Stop Playing Along” from The Atlantic
- “Trucker Protest Jams Key Detroit Bridge as Canada Tensions Rise” from Bloomberg
- Eileen Gu is skiing for China and taking over the Beijing Games from The Washington Post
- Watch: Eileen Gu’s HUGE final run grabs big air gold
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