NFL owners will vote on proposal to reward minority hires with improved draft picks

No matter how you slice it, the NFL’s record when it comes to minority hires for coaching and general manager positions is shameful. At a time when the league’s population of players wavers around 70% every season, there are just two black general managers and four coaches of color, a 17-year low. By the end of the 2018 season, Cleveland’s Hue Jackson, Cincinnati’s Marvin Lewis, Arizona’s Steve Wilks, Denver’s Vance Joseph, and Todd Bowles of the Jets were all fired, and there’s been precious little movement to keep up the standard.

The Rooney Rule, which states that teams must interview people of color for vacant coaching and general manager positions, has mostly been an epic disaster, as token interviews have ruled the day. Thus, obviously qualified candidates like Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy have had to wait far too long for their deserved opportunities, while relative newcomers of a lighter pigmentation somehow rise up the ladder at an accelerated rate.

As first reported by NFL.com’s Jim Trotter, the NFL is now floating an idea that should both give more weight to an obvious problem, and create all kinds of reactions, both positive and negative. If the vote goes through, teams hiring coaches or general managers of color would be incentivized by more favorable draft positions.

https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/2020/05/15/nfl-owners-will-vote-on-proposal-to-reward-minority-hires-with-improved-draft-picks/amp/