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Florida's Attorney General James Uthmeier wrote a missive to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell connected Wednesday, imploring nan convention to nix its Rooney Rule.
The norm requires NFL organizations to question and reply astatine slightest 2 number candidates for awesome positions earlier pulling nan trigger connected a hire.
Uthmeier called nan Rooney Rule "illegal" and "blatant title and activity discrimination."
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NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks during his authorities of nan NFL news convention connected Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, successful San Jose, California, up of nan Super Bowl 60 shot crippled betwixt nan Seattle Seahawks and nan New England Patriots. (AP Photo/Matt York)
"As applied successful Florida, nan NFL’s ‘Rooney Rule,’ which governs nan hiring of definite squad executives and coaches, brazenly violates Florida law. So, too, do nan NFL’s related ‘diversity’ initiatives," Uthmeier wrote successful nan letter.
"The Florida Civil Rights Act prohibits employers from ‘fail[ing] aliases refus[ing] to prosecute immoderate individual’; ‘limit[ing], segregate[ing], aliases classify[ing] labor aliases applicants for employment successful immoderate measurement which would deprive aliases thin to deprive immoderate individual of employment opportunities’; and ‘discriminat[ing] against immoderate individual pinch respect to compensation, terms, conditions, aliases privileges of employment,’ because of nan ‘individual’s race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, nationalist origin, age, handicap, aliases marital status,’ nan missive continued.
"The Act besides prohibits employers from discriminating based connected those aforesaid characteristics ‘in admittance to … immoderate programme established to supply apprenticeship aliases different training.’ The Rooney Rule and its offshoots require precisely what Florida rule forbids. They require teams to limit, segregate, and categorize applicants for definite employment and training opportunities because of title and sex. And they do truthful successful a measurement that tends to deprive applicants of opportunities for employment…
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier speaks astatine a run rally for Virginia Republican gubernatorial campaigner Winsome Earle-Sears astatine nan Buckland Farm Market connected Oct. 29, 2025, successful New Baltimore, Virginia. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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"The NFL’s ain Executive Vice President of NFL Operations (Troy Vincent Sr.) has acknowledged that nan NFL should create ‘a workplace civilization that doesn’t require mandates to question and reply group of colour and minorities.’ If that is so, past extremity discriminating based connected race. Stop discriminating based connected sex. Interview, hire, and train based connected merit. If merit-based employment should beryllium anyplace (and it should beryllium everywhere), it is successful nan NFL. NFL fans successful Florida don’t attraction what colour their coach’s tegument is. They attraction what colors their coach is wearing—and that those colors are winning connected nan shot field."
Uthmeier past asked Goodell to "please corroborate nary later than May 1, 2026, that nan NFL will nary longer enforce nan Rooney Rule aliases immoderate variety aliases hold thereof—which requires information of race, sex, aliases immoderate different prohibited classification—on teams successful Florida. Failure to supply specified confirmation whitethorn consequence successful a civilian authorities enforcement action."
The NFL did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.
The Rooney Rule was put into effect successful 2003. As of publication, 3 NFL caput coaches are Black, and nary were hired passim this offseason, though respective were hired for coordinator positions.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell addresses nan media astatine nan NFL Annual League Meeting astatine The Breakers connected April 1, 2025. (Jim Rassol-Imagn Images)
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Meanwhile, Brian Flores, Steve Wilks and Ray Horton person a favoritism lawsuit against nan NFL, pinch Flores saying nan convention was "rife pinch racism" arsenic it pertains to its hiring practices for coaches.
Fox News' Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.
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