2010 Black History Month: #25 Black Sports Moment - The Rooney Rule

By: Luke Florence

2010 Black History Month: #25 Black Sports Moment

NFL Implements The Rooney Rule

It's not uncommon for college friends to try and schedule classes together whenever possible. It helps lighten the burden of walking into a classroom full of students and not knowing a single one. It makes studying for tests easier, realizing you will have another mind looking at the same material. Skipping classes and not missing notes is a real possibility as well. And sometimes, it can create memorable moments.

Matt Barnes and myself took several classes together. Philosophy, Intro To Coaching, Youth and Sports, Information Gathering, two History of Baseball classes, and various others. Laughs were shared in most, but in only one did we actually get to do something we both love probably more than we should.

Argue.

Sophomore year we found ourselves sitting in Speech class, with our beloved teacher Rudy. Rudy was from 'out-of-town,' and had difficulty saying every day words. We immediately noted the irony of our Speech instructor having problems communicating, but at the very least we knew it would be an easy A. Barnes kept a running log of all the words Rudy mis-spoke, which kept us alive during those long and boring Powerpoints.

Nevertheless, we did have to give three speeches to the entire class. An argumentative speech was one of those three. So, as has been the norm for the past five years, Barnes and I wanted to do something different. We wanted to argue the same topic, but from two differing sides.

It took us about 3.2 seconds to decide which topic to present.

Affirmative action.

We each presented our case, and even though it was a real possibility our instructor was a benefactor of affirmative action, I thought we both "won" our debate.

With that back story in mind, it's easy to see why the Rooney Rule cracks this list.

In 2003 the NFL decided there were not enough minority head coaches in the league, so they implemented a rule which forced teams to interview a minority candidate for head coaching and senior management positions.

Some teams do a better job than others following this rule, but there would be little arguing that the Rooney Rule has in fact worked. More minorities are coaching in the NFL than seven years ago, and same goes for senior management jobs as well.

Here is my take.

The NFL doesn't have a rule in place saying you have to hire a minority, just simply interview one. Therefore, taking all biases out of the way, nothing but good things can come out of it. Maybe a minority will gain experience in a job interview that will translate to a hire down the road. Maybe, the minority will flat out win the job. It's a good rule when you consider the landscape prior to 2003 when they instituted it.

My one and only problem with this rule is that the NFL shouldn't penalize teams for not following it. They should be rewarding teams for abiding by it. Money, draft picks, etc.

The bigger issue, and has been for quite some time, is why the NCAA doesn't have anything similar. There are four times as many head coaching jobs available in Division I football, yet there are fewer minority head coaches than in the NFL. Doesn't make sense to me.

Hint for #24: It's not enough that most of the competitors are white, this event also makes you wear it. All the more reason why this accomplishment deserves to be remembered.

Until next time, "read it, roll it, hole it."