The Rooney Rule, Seven Years Later: The NFL Can Do More

There is a stark difference between doing things right and doing the right thing. Doing things right usually entails skill, drive, persistence and some level of intellect, which are all great qualities to possess.

On the other hand, doing the right thing requires an open mind, strong will, some moral base, and most importantly- courage. These traits are not simply great qualities, but they show great character.

Concerning racial equality in the United States of America, a great number of people (of all different races and ethnicities) may not have always done what was right according to the laws and traditions of their time, but in spite of those laws and traditions, they chose do the right thing.

Rosa Parks, President Abraham Lincoln, The A&T Four (four students from North Carolina A&T University who performed sit-ins), the United States Supreme Court Justices who ruled that separate was not equal and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; all of these people may not have done the right thing according to the majority of those in power, but they somehow found the strength to do the right things.

America has made huge strides in racial equality with the most obvious and notable symbol of progress being the election of the nation's first Black President, President Barack Obama.

The amount of progress is evident in schools, corporations, government, and throughout all walks of life in America, but one area is still lagging far behind in racial equality...

The National Football league.

The NFL has found it difficult to catch up with the rest of the world, but since 2002 the leagues has made a great deal of progress.

In 2002, the NFL implemented the Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate when filling a head coaching position, or they will be fined. It is not like affirmative action where the league needs to fill quotas. The rule only requires that a minority be interviewed, NOT hired.

The rule was named after Dan Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who put together and chaired a committee to study the issue of why the NFL had so few Black head coaches.

Although the rule is named after Rooney, it was the late Johnnie Cochran and a Washington D.C. attorney by the name of Cyrus Mehri who brought the issue to the attention of the NFL and then Commissioner, Paul Tagliabue.

Cochran and Mehri hired Dr. Janice Madden of the University of Pennsylvania to perform a statistical analysis on the performance of the NFL coaches by race.

Dr. Madden's study entitled study entitled Black Coaches in the National Football League: Superior Performance, Inferior opportunities, found that the 5 Black coaches (Dennis Green, Tony Dungy, Ray Rhodes, and Herman Edwards) of the previous 15 years had a higher winning percentage than their White counterparts.

It was because of this data that the NFL and Rooney's committee were forced into action instead of facing a lawsuit.

Rooney was attempting to do the right thing, not simply because of the lawsuit, but it can be argued that it is in his genes.

Rooney's father, Art (A.K.A. The Chief) purchased the Steelers in 1933 and in that same year hired the first Black player for the organization, Ray Kemp.

The Rooney family has built one of the greatest (if not the greatest) and diverse organizations in the NFL. In 1957, the Steelers were the first team to hire a Black assistant coach, Lowell Perry, and in 1984 they were the first team to hire a Black coordinator, Tony Dungy. Rooney was also the first to hire a lesser-known (not to mention very young) Black head coach, Mike Tomlin, after the implementation of the Rooney Rule.

The Rooneys have amassed a total of six Super Bowl Championships (more than any other team), with Tomlin winning the most recent one. Obviously, diversity has only enhanced the Steelers' organization, so why is it so difficult for the rest of the league to catch on?

In 2006, the NFL had a record seven Black head coaches. For the past three Super Bowls, at least one of the teams had a Black head coach or general manager, which shows the progression in both coaching and front office positions.

The problem is complacency within the league and from those who evaluate it.

Patience is needed and understandably so, but TIDES (The Institute For Diversity and Ethics in Sport) located at the University of Central Florida has given the NFL an overall B+ grade (87.1 out of 100) for race two years in a row.

The published study examined both race and gender. It was entitled, The 2008 Racial and Gender Report Card: National Football League.

Although the NFL did not provide data to TIDES on gender, TIDES reported that the 2004 grade of D+ would likely have remained the same for the gender portion of the study because so little has changed regarding the hiring of women in the NFL.

This is where complacency is problematic.

Yes, the NFL has improved its diversity among minorities and women, but it is still not proportionate to the composition of players and for TIDES to give a grade of B+ for race is inexcusable.

While 66% of players in the NFL are Black, 0% are women.

See the point?

If the majority of players were White women, then by all means, the majority of coaching and front office positions should be held by... you guessed it, White women.

It seems as if the NFL is silently stating that Black men are only capable of the physical, athletic side of football, but are incapable of creating brilliant playbooks, heading up scouting, hiring, drafting or doing anything else that may cause them to flex their neurological muscles.

The NFL players union commissioned the Wharton Sports Business Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania to conduct a survey of players. It was the first time that such a survey had been conducted within the NFL.

About 80% (1440) of active players in 2007 participated in the study. The players were asked about issues regarding their coaches. The players were surprisingly open with all of their answers.

Despite the racial make up of the study (which very accurately depicted the actual racial make up of players), the players all agreed on the top ten head coaches that they would like to play for and they ALL placed Dungy in the number one spot.

Although they all had the same top ten coaches, they ranked them differently.

The top five rankings among Blacks were as follows: 1- Dungy 2- Lovie Smith 3- Bill Belichick 4- Herman Edwards and 5- Mike Tomlin. Of these coaches only Belichick is White.

The top five rankings among Whites were as follows: 1- Dungy 2- Belichick 3- Smith 4- Mike Shanahan and 5- Jeff Fisher. Edwards was ranked 6^th among Whites which shows that although the league only had six Black head coaches during the survey, the majority of them were superior in the eyes of the players.

Why is this relevant?

William Rhoden of the New York Times states it best;

"The Black football playing majority must answer to a predominately

White power structure, which includes team executives and

owners. Given the disparity in trust and respect between

Blacks and Whites, the study suggested a new model is

needed for franchises that hope to get the most out of their

players. This means going beyond simply relying on a cluster

of veteran players to maintain order in the locker room.

They must hire and promote respected African-Americans

and place them into positions of power and authority."

The "Black football playing majority" can be likened to the slaves who planted, harvested, picked and prepared the food for their owners, but were never able to sit at the main dining table in order to partake in the feasting upon of the meal.

TIDES, the NFL, players, fans, and society as a whole have become complacent through the celebrating of triumphs and a few victories, but there is still too much left to prove and achieve.

Of course, it is great to take note and applaud the NFL for beginning to do the right things, but when the minority majority is still in the minority, celebrations should not translate into arrival.

There were celebrations after the Emancipation Proclamation, but there was still work to be done. There were celebrations after Brown v. Board of Education, but there was still work to be done. There were celebrations after the election of President Obama, but there IS still work to be done and improvements to be made.

The NFL has shown great courage over the years in opening doors for minorities; now the league only needs to follow in the successful footsteps of the Rooneys and do what is right by leaving those doors open and giving more people the opportunity to walk through them.

References

1 "Dungy: Rooney Rule Opened Up Pipeline For Minorities". Retrieved on 09 May 2009.
2 "Rooney Rule Helps Reward Namesake". Retrieved on 09 May 2009.
3 "Thanks To Rooney Rule, Doors Opened". Retrieved on 09 May 2009.
4 "Sports Of The Times; N.F.L. Players Evaluate Their Coaches". Retrieved on 09 May 2009.
5 "NFL Has Record Number Of Head Coaches". Retrieved on 09 May 2009.
6 "Super Bowl XLI: "Power Concedes Nothing Without Demand" Frederick Douglas". Retrieved on 09 May 2009.
7 "The 2008 Racial and Gender Report Card: National Football League". Retrieved on 09 May 2009.