Raiderstation

Out of interest, why are so many posters upset with the Rooney rule?
A quick cursory search by me indicates only around 20-25% of players are white but around 75% of coaches are white and all the majority owners are white.
Those numbers don’t paint the prettiest of pictures tbh.

It does indicate a bias. By whom or for what reasons I couldn’t possibly say. Odd stats though.

Are the people on here or in general that are so upset by the rule people of colour or mostly/exclusively white?

Attyla wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 9:41 am No it is not selfish. It is a rule with flaws. The league has even stated they are revisiting it because of its flaws. And we are one of those current teams that had to abide by it so it is relevant. There is nothing selfish about discussion. Like anything, there will be people who make it personal and others who are offended that we even entertain to discuss it.

Lets talk about it mid-season during bye week vs when it's affecting us. That's the selfish part imo. We only care when affecting us. The team will deal with it and get who they get in the end.

Corleone wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 9:54 am Many flaws, for example, only giving two third round picks for the team losing the black coach is pretty racist. Should be at least 3 third rounders, a 4th round pick and the right to have Maxx Crosby say good things about you on his podcast for at least 1 week. Anything less than that isn't going to stop racism, and isn't that the ultimate goal?

and a partridge in a pear tree.

SkullCrusher wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 9:58 am Lets talk about it mid-season during bye week vs when it's affecting us. That's the selfish part imo. We only care when affecting us. The team will deal with it and get who they get in the end.

That is not true, conversations regarding the rule have cropped up at other times, most the time the discussion spiraled so it got shut down.

chucker wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 8:10 am I try not to just call anyone "just a Rooney" candidate because I hope there's merit to some of these guys. Also, while people say it should be the "Davis Rule", Al Davis made a mockery of it by interviewing James Lofton for head coach about 5 times just to check the box. I don't think he gave a shit about the rule, so it would be odd to name it after him. He just chose whoever was the best guy, regardless of race.

I do think that if you get in a room and have a chance to interview, you have a chance to show you belong. It's an opportunity. As a guy who's offered that opportunity, you can choose to turn it down.

I think most people here know that Al is the last guy to be checked in regards to the Rooney rule. Raiders never needed the Rooney rule to hire and field women and minorities at most every coaching position, front office position, and as players on the team. I mean even post Al, Raiders were the the first to have an openly gay player and it wasn’t even meant with as much media fanfare like the Rams when they drafted the other guy, it was just business as usual for us since we’re so used to leading the way in these types of situations.

Attyla wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 10:00 am That is not true, conversations regarding the rule have cropped up at other times, most the time the discussion spiraled so it got shut down.

Probably so.

Attyla wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 9:49 am Do you know the reasoning. That seems arbitrary to me.

The reasoning was to stop obvious sham interviews like Al interviewing Lofton for multiple vacancies without offering him the job, or Jerrah interviewing WR Ray Sherman for the HC position, only for the new HC to not even retain Sherman on-staff.

For the record, I think the Rooney Rule is ridiculous and should be abolished.

You can't regulate race because one is always going to be underrepresented in some people's eyes. For instance. According to the us census African American makes up 13.4-14.7 percent of the population. As of February 25 they make up 19 percent of the head coaching in the NFL. So in essence that makes them over represented.

In the NBA they account for 53% of head coaches. So should the NBA start regulating white coaches getting interviews?

IDC about the makeup of the league. As it's completely merit based. Which is how I figure everything should be. Completely merit based or it will always be called into question on if the person legitimately got the interview for their merit or because of their race

Goodtimes333 wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 9:48 am I genuinely hope you stay safe. It saddens me to see the state of the UK. There's a lot of injustice happening to the citizens of your nation. I don't wanna get further as it's political, but my authentic sentiment is there

First, I hope you all stay safe, happy and healthy too.

U.K. is vanilla country tbh. It’s not particularly dangerous for anyone except those with vitamin D deficiencies

Danchinho wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 12:00 pm First, I hope you all stay safe, happy and healthy too.

U.K. is vanilla country tbh. It’s not particularly dangerous for anyone except those with vitamin D deficiencies

I was enroute to Scotland and got delayed a day and a half in London, and were there during three different organized protests. Funniest damn thing I have ever seen. Two opposing protests and one on climate change. The number of cops and transports on the streets was staggering.

On a side note, if you ever visit Buckingham palace, tell them you cannot take the stairs. They give you a special pass to use the lifts. That is not the reason to do it though. At the end of the tour, you have to turn in the pass. They then proceed to take you to these oversized golf carts and ride you to the front gate. Thousands watch as you are escorted into the courtyard. They even tell you to wave to the crowd. Once you arrive at the gate, these heavily armed guards open the gate and the crowd is left wondering who you are that you are so important to get this treatment. People were getting their cameras out to film us as we left. I was moved to say loudly, "Thank you for the hospitality, I have stayed in better places, but not many." True story.

If the NFL wants to increase diversity, there should be more white players.

Corleone wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 8:36 am No, Pete Carroll did not count towards the Rooney rule.

He counts towards the Brandon rule. Thanks to Pete Brandon Papa and Geno for the historic season.

Not a fan of it as I believe it served its purpose and we as a society are largely beyond that nonsense now. Yes there are still exceptions with ignorant people but they will always be there. You can't fix stupid and they will continue to marginalize themselves by being stupid.

In the NFL revenue, careers, championships are decided by one thing only-results. Hire is the best candidate to get those results. Lots of minority coaches have done well, very well and will continue to do so.

Yes, there are coaches and assistants that got there start because of who their last name. But, aside from a few such as Pete's son. Most have been very successful.

Gotta admit I am curious what tweaks they are considering. I am hard pressed to think of what more they can do.

chucker wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 7:35 am Women count. Pacific Islanders count. Basically everyone other than a white male is a minority under the rule. I'm not sure you've actually educated yourself enough to be able to evaluate whether or not it's selective.

Does not cover people with disability's which Attyla mentioned it only covers racial and ethnic minorities. On a different note, specificity is a focused, particular approach. A selective process. If you are giving someone an interview because you are forced to do so then that is the very definition of being selective.

ALLRAIDERWORLD21 wrote: Sat Feb 14, 2026 10:12 am I think most people here know that Al is the last guy to be checked in regards to the Rooney rule. Raiders never needed the Rooney rule to hire and field women and minorities at most every coaching position, front office position, and as players on the team. I mean even post Al, Raiders were the the first to have an openly gay player and it wasn’t even meant with as much media fanfare like the Rams when they drafted the other guy, it was just business as usual for us since we’re so used to leading the way in these types of situations.

As I have pointed out time after time it's a sham to call it the Rooney rule in the first place. Al did way more for diversity in this league. WAY before the looney's. In 1963, the Raiders were scheduled to play a preseason game in Mobile, Alabama. In protest of Alabama's segregation laws, Davis refused to allow the game to be played there and demanded the game be moved to Oakland. He also refused to allow the players to travel to cities to play games where the black and white players would have to stay in separate hotels. Davis was the first NFL owner to hire an African American head coach, Art Shell. First to hire a latino head coach, Tom Flores. And first to hire a female chief executive in Amy Trask.