INGLEWOOD, Calif. (KNX) — Holding tradition, National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell delivered his state of the league Wednesday, just days before the Los Angeles Rams, Cincinnati Bengals face off at Super Bowl LVI.
Though the game is a major headline this week, Goodell’s speech comes at a time when the NFL faces a lawsuit from former Miami Dolphins Coach Brian Flores, who alleges he faced racist hiring practices and that racism is common in the league overall.
When asked about the discrimination claims during a press conference at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Goodell said racism or any form of discrimination is against the league’s values.
“Let’s take Coach Flores’ litigation and put it to the side. That will go through the legal process,” Goodell said.
“It’s really more important to talk about what Coach Flores and other coaches have talked about with respect to what’s really happening in the hiring process - what’s good, what’s bad. What’s not leading us to the results that we expect to have.”
While Goodell said he believes the NFL has made “a tremendous amount of progress” in areas regarding diversity and inclusion, he said the league will take a step back and evaluate its hiring process to determine what Flores’ allegations are based on.
In his 58-page lawsuit against the league, Flores claimed his interview with the New York Giants was solely a result of the NFL’s “Rooney Rule” — rule implemented by the league that requires all teams to interview ethnic-minority candidates for head coaching and senior positions.
While the affirmative action-based policy is directly related to interviewing, not hiring, Flores said it seemed as though he was interviewed solely to meet the rule, not to ever actually earn the position.
Goodell addressed the rule head on, saying he is aware of the criticisms and the league will look into whether the policy should be altered or removed altogether. In addition, the commissioner said he wants to address the fact that there are so few head coaches of color in the league.
“They are getting into the room and they are getting the interviews,” he said. “What we want to try to see is the outcomes. We want to see Black head coaches in the NFL and coaches [who are] people of color…it’s an inclusive process and hopefully an inclusive outcome.”
He went on to say that there is no “finish line” when it comes to diversity and inclusion, that the NFL will keep both and the forefront of everything it does.
“It makes us better, it makes us bring in the best talent to the league,” he said. “To me this is an opportunity for us to step back, look at what we’re doing, look at what we should be doing and how we can lead to better results.”
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