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Rooney Rule

The Browns Board
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  • it's not about forcing a team to hire someone, it's about forcing them to consider someone. besides, teams hire who they want to, anyway.

    and move your discussion of airport racial profiling to the political board.

  • It's a bullshit rule, especially if you already have a minority head coach in place.

    You should be able to legally throw a couple grand at a dude to get him to come in and satisfy the stupid rule. It's ridiculous that in a league where so much money is on the line based on a coach's performance, that affirmative action is in place.

    It blows my mind.

    There are plenty of minority coaches across the league, whether they are head coaches or assistants. Considering how many minority players there are in the league, that number should only grow over time. I don't see the need for this stupid rule.

  • it's not about forcing a team to hire someone, it's about forcing them to consider someone. besides, teams hire who they want to, anyway.

    and move your discussion of airport racial profiling to the political board.

    @jewdago said:

    it's not about forcing a team to hire someone, it's about forcing them to consider someone. besides, teams hire who they want to, anyway.

    and move your discussion of airport racial profiling to the political board.

    I am making a comparison for the purposes of the discussion at hand, my statement is where it belongs. I could give a shit if you dont agree with it.

  • i never said i disagreed with what you said. being forced to do consider a coach simply because of the color of their skin is just as bullshit as not considering someone because of the color of their skin. it's an archaic rule that needs to be dealt with, but one that we, as fans, can't currently change.

    i just didn't want this to turn into a political flame war instead of a football discussion.

  • I see where you are coming from but I did not mean it as a politcal debate, I was just using it as comparitive purposes. I have no desire to argue politics. Its futile because you will never get someone to stop believing what they believe. All debating politics does is piss off both sides.

    So in short sorry if I came off bad I just hate this topic because it should not be a topic. It is a BS rule that should not be in place and I think most would agree.

  • i could've worded my response better than i did, too. good to know everything's amenable and that we have the same views on political discussions. they're futile no matter what: if people agree, they just end up patting each other on the back, and if they disagree, they just end up arguing.

  • I think the Rooney Rule has served a positive purpose. Just compare how many NFL teams have black head coaches to how many big-time college teams have the same.

    As JewDago said, it's not about forcing teams to hire a minority coach; it's about making sure minority coaches are given proper consideration, eliminating any prejudice - subconscious or otherwise - that makes front office people think that black coaches aren't "head coaching material."

    That said, I think the rule's already served its purpose. The Tony Dungy vs. Lovie Smith Super Bowl a few years ago probably eliminated any concern that black coaches wouldn't get a fair shake in the league. And to the extent that the rule feeds into pretty negative misconceptions (i.e. RAC was "an affirmative action hire"), keeping it in place could actually be harmful.

    If I were in charge, I'd probably eliminate the Rooney Rule for coaches & instead apply it to GM jobs, where there's a perception that minority candidates still aren't getting proper consideration for jobs.

  • It's a bullshit rule Alo, and you know it. The owner has a right to hire who he wants. Having to interview a Black person for the job is crazy if they are not qualified. How about a Mexican? An Asian? Give me a foooking break. As far as I know, the Government does not subsidize the NFL so the rule is a joke anyway. As far as applying it to GM jobs, your full of shit there also Alo. What an owner does with his money is none of your business, or anyone's for that matter. Affirmative action died years ago. Deal with it.

  • its a bullshit rule!

    I was watching the Bigten network this year and the commentaters were talking about how all of these black head coaches are getting fired and that it was a shame! Its Business! You Dont Win You Get FIRED!!!!

    Then they stated at the end of this season there will only be 4 black head coaches left in college football.

    Who gives a Shit?

  • Anybody think Mike Tomlin gets the Pitt job without this rule?

    If it required anything more than it does, I would be bothered by it. But it's no burden to interview one guy.

    That said, I think it is a stretch to apply it to situations like STL, where they wouldve had to interview a black candidate even if they chose to keep their interim head coach. It also makes it difficult for teams to shop for a coach quietly.

  • The Detroit Lions were fined $200,000.00 for trying to circumvent the Rooney Rule.

    It was necessary to institute the Rooney Rule in 2003 because while about 2/3 of the NFL players were African-American, only two Head Coaches were (Herman Edwards and Tony Dungy). For all the pain and sacrifice of all those players for the enrichment of the NFL, the door was kept shut at a certain level. The Rooneys themselves hired a relative unknown the next time their HC job was open and it has worked out fine.

    All it says is that a minority coach must be interviewed. The right guy to bring the Browns back to respectability might be someone you all have barely heard of. The world had barely heard of Bill Cowher at one point.

  • Also, I dont see it going anywhere anytime soon. The rule is only 5 years old. If anything, the success of it probably gives the league a reason to keep it in place, not abolish it.

  • Since we already have a minority head coach, couldn't we do a quick 5 second interview with Romeo and then tell him "sorry, we've decided to go in another direction" and bring in Marty? If we can't just do that with Romeo, try it with Mel and maybe that will circumvent the rule!!!

    @samoth said:

    Since we already have a minority head coach, couldn't we do a quick 5 second interview with Romeo and then tell him "sorry, we've decided to go in another direction" and bring in Marty? If we can't just do that with Romeo, try it with Mel and maybe that will circumvent the rule!!!

    LOL.....how do you interview a guy who is under contract for another 2-3 seasons??

    Sorry man...that wouldn't work even under the most liberal view of the rule.

    We need to wait....can Romeo...then bring in as many top candidates as we can....this is our team....why not get the best guy we can??

  • The Detroit Lions were fined $200,000.00 for trying to circumvent the Rooney Rule.

    It was necessary to institute the Rooney Rule in 2003 because while about 2/3 of the NFL players were African-American, only two Head Coaches were (Herman Edwards and Tony Dungy). For all the pain and sacrifice of all those players for the enrichment of the NFL, the door was kept shut at a certain level. The Rooneys themselves hired a relative unknown the next time their HC job was open and it has worked out fine.

    All it says is that a minority coach must be interviewed. The right guy to bring the Browns back to respectability might be someone you all have barely heard of. The world had barely heard of Bill Cowher at one point.

    @buck-the-frowns said:

    The Detroit Lions were fined $200,000.00 for trying to circumvent the Rooney Rule.

    Its worth paying the fine instead of having someone stepping in and telling you that you can only interview this guy or that guy first.

    They can Interview tucker then Fire his Shit!