Steelers Now
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed in February that the NFL will continue its diversity efforts, despite the Trump administration’s policies and companies dropping diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
“We got into diversity efforts because we felt it was the right thing for the National Football League, and we’re going to continue those efforts because we’ve not only convinced ourselves, I think we’ve proven to ourselves that it does make the NFL better,” Goodell told reporters at the Super Bowl in New Orleans. “We’re not in this because it’s a trend to get into it or a trend to get out of it. Our efforts are fundamental in trying to attract the best possible talent into the National Football League both on and off the field.”
Despite Goodell’s statement that the league is committed to DEI programs, the league canceled the 2025 version of the accelerator program, which puts minority candidates in front of owners during the May meetings. This definitely raised eyebrows, but the NFL issued a statement last week stating that the program was stopped for a year in an effort to make it better next year.
In a interview with Jarrett Bell of USA Today, Pittsburgh Steelers president Art Rooney II made it clear he’s not backing off on fighting for diversity efforts, despite the anti-DEI movement.
“I realize that people are going to look at [the cancellation of the 2025 accelerator program] and say, ‘These people are backing off,’” Rooney told Bell. “That’s not going to happen. There’s nothing I can really do about that perception, except to say that we’re still not satisfied with where we are, and we recognize that we still have work to do.”
Despite negative publicity, Goodell believes the Rooney Rule is still an effective process for hiring candidates. The Rooney Rule, which was created by the league in 2003, requires clubs to interview minority or female candidates for open head coach, general manager, coordinator, quarterbacks coach, and senior level positions.
“There’s no requirement to hire a particular individual on the basis of race or gender,” Goodell said in February. “It’s simply on the basis of looking at a canvas of candidates that reflect our communities and to look at the kind of talent that exists there, and then you make the best decision on who is hired.
“There are no quotas in our system. This is about opening that funnel and bringing the best talent into the NFL.”
Former Steelers free safety Ryan Clark thinks the Rooney Rule has become a complete joke. That was made evident with the New England Patriots bringing in Pep Hamilton and Byron Leftwich for interviews, only to hire Mike Vrabel days later. Hamilton and Leftwich were just used to meet a quota.
“I think this kind of puts a light on the Rooney Rule, which, to me, the New England Patriots made a mockery of,” Clark said on Inside the NFL. “To interview Pep Hamilton and Byron Leftwich, two coaches who aren’t even in football...
