Group Wants Oakland Raiders Rooney Rule Investigation
Jan 11, 2018, 12:00 AM | Updated: Jan 4, 2019, 11:22 am
(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
UPDATE: The NFL has announced that they are officially looking into claims of a Rooney Rule violation.
NFL will “look into” whether the Raiders violated the Rooney Rule in the process that ended with Jon Gruden being named head coach, according to a league spokesman
— Steve Wyche (@wyche89) January 11, 2018
NFL officially now looking into Raiders’ head coach hiring process and whether they violated the Rooney Rule, per league official.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 11, 2018
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The Oakland Raiders have hired Jon Gruden to replace Jack Del Rio as their head coach, but now some are calling into question how the hiring happened.
Sports Illustrated reports that the Fritz Pollard Alliance believes the team ignored the Rooney Rule when hiring Gruden. The rule was initiated in 2003 to require teams to interview minorities for both head coaching and senior football operation jobs.
During the introductory press conference with Gruden this question was asked, and the Raiders said they interviewed Tee Martin and Bobby Johnson for the job.
The #Raiders interviewed #USC OC Tee Martin and Oakland TE coach Bobby Johnson to satisfy the Rooney Rule.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 9, 2018
Some are accusing that these interviews took place after the Gruden deal was settled.
According to USA Today. Cyrus Mehri of the FPA’s general counsel for the FPA said “It has all the appearances of a violation. But like any case in America, you want to give people a chance to tell their side of the story.”
Others are suggesting possible punishments if the team is found guilty of ignoring the Rooney Rule.
It seems pretty clear: The Raiders made a mockery of the Rooney Rule, and for that they should pay up — @JarrettBell says a $1 million fine, plus the loss of a first-rounder might not be enough. https://t.co/mVgXjsL7Es
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) January 11, 2018
