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Kalin Kahler
multiple authors
Florida’s Attorney General is challenging the Rooney rule and calling on the NFL to suspend it or face possible civil rights action.
James Uthmeyer sent a letter On Wednesday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell expressed concern that the Rooney Rule – which requires teams to interview outside minority candidates for specific positions – is “blatant race and gender discrimination” and that hiring decisions should be based solely on merit.
“NFL fans in Florida don’t care what color their coach’s skin is,” Uthmeyer wrote. “They care what colors their coach is wearing – and those colors are winning on the football field.
“The Rooney Rule and its offshoots are illegal in Florida.”
The NFL acknowledged receiving the letter and the league is reviewing its contents.
“We believe our policies are consistent with the law and reflect our commitment to fairness, opportunity and building the strongest teams,” NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller said.
Uthmayer said in a Video posted on X Wednesday that the rule “violates Florida law by requiring race-based considerations in hiring.” In the letter, Uthmeyer asked Goodell to “confirm, no later than May 1, 2026, that the NFL will no longer enforce the Rooney Rule—or any variation or expansion thereof—on teams in Florida that requires consideration of race, gender or any other prohibited classification. Failure to provide such confirmation could result in civil rights enforcement action.”
Politico reported that Uthmeyer also sent a letter to the owners of the NFL’s three Florida-based teams.
The Rooney Rule, adopted in 2003, requires NFL clubs to interview two external minority candidates for vacant head coach, general manager and coordinator positions. This offseason, tennessee titans Coach Robert Saleh, who is of Lebanese descent, was the only minority candidate to get the top coaching job, and no Black head coach was hired for the 10 vacancies.
Before the Super Bowl, Goodell said the NFL will do this take a closer look Rooney Rule and includes “continuing progress” on diversity.
pittsburgh steelers Owner Art Rooney II, who chairs the NFL’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and whose father, Dan, is the namesake of the rule, told ESPN on Friday that the league would have an obligation to consider Uthmeyer’s demands.
“There’s no doubt the environment has changed in recent years,” Rooney told ESPN. “We have an obligation to make sure that our policies comply with the laws, no matter what the law is, and whatever changes there are to the law. We have to look at that and make sure we’re in compliance. … That’s the environment we’re in today.”
