Florida attorney general says NFL must get rid of Rooney Rule

Florida’s attorney general is challenging the Rooney Rule and calling on the NFL to suspend it or face possible civil rights action.

James Uthmeier sent a letter to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Wednesday to express concern that the Rooney Rule — which requires teams to interview external minority candidates for specific positions — is “blatant race and sex discrimination” and that hiring decisions should be based on merit only.

“NFL fans in Florida don’t care what color their coach’s skin is,” Uthmeier wrote. “They care what colors their coach is wearing — and that those colors are winning on the football field.

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“The Rooney Rule and its offshoots are illegal in Florida.”

The NFL acknowledged receiving the letter and that 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 possible teams,” NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller said.

Uthmeier said in a video posted to X on Wednesday that the rule “violates Florida law by requiring race-based considerations in hiring.” In the letter, Uthmeier asked Goodell to “confirm no later than May 1, 2026, that the NFL will no longer enforce the Rooney Rule or any variation or extension thereof — which requires consideration of race, sex, or any other prohibited classification — on teams in Florida. Failure to provide such confirmation may result in a civil rights enforcement action.”

Politico reported that Uthmeier also sent the 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 land a top coaching job, and no Black head coaches were hired for the 10 openings.

Ahead of the Super Bowl, Goodell said the NFL would take a closer look at the Rooney Rule and all that it encompasses to “continue to make progress” on diversity.

Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney II, who is the chair of the NFL’s diversity, equity and inclusion committee and whose father, Dan, is the namesake of the rule, told ESPN on Friday that he had not seen the letter personally but that the league will have an obligation to consider Uthmeier’s demands.

“There’s no question that the environment has changed in recent years,” Rooney told ESPN. “We do have an obligation to make sure that our policies comply with the laws, whatever the law is, and whatever the changes in law might be. We’ve got to look at that and make sure we’re in compliance. … When the league’s lawyers have a chance to analyze it to determine what is it about Florida law that the attorney general is questioning, we’ll have to review that. That’s just the environment we’re existing in today.”