NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell gave his state of the league address on Monday, an annual ritual traditionally held the Monday before the Super Bowl. He covered various topics, including the league’s diversity efforts over the years.
He was asked several questions about diversity by reporters who, inexplicably, sought to link the executive order by President Donald Trump to eliminate DEI programs within the federal government to the professional football league. The NFL is separate from the federal government and unaffected by Trump’s executive order.
Goodell explained that he didn’t think the league’s diversity initiatives ran counter to the Trump administration’s directive, NFL.com reported.
“Our policies have been designed to be well within the law, well within the practice,” Goodell said.
“We also believe we are doing the right thing for the NFL, and our policies are consistent with the current administration as well as the last administration,” he noted.
He also elaborated on why the league valued diversity emphasized how these efforts helped improve the NFL.
“We think we’re better when we get different perspectives, people with different backgrounds, whether they’re women or men or people of color, we make ourselves stronger, and we make ourselves better when we have that,” Goodell said.
“We got into diversity efforts because we felt it was the right thing for the National Football League, and we’re going to continue those efforts because we’ve not only convinced ourselves, I think we’ve proven to ourselves that it does make the NFL better,” he added.
The NFL commissioner did not elaborate on his comments as to exactly how it made the NFL better. He also did not provide any specific examples connecting diversity efforts to league improvement or how the league would have suffered if such programs did not exist.
“We’re not in this because it’s a trend to get into it or a trend to get out of it,” he said.
Goodell then claimed diversity initiatives were integral to recruiting top talent into the NFL.
“Our efforts are fundamental in trying to attract the best possible talent into the National Football League both on and off the field,” the NFL commissioner said.
However, once again, he did not explain how current league employees would not be working in the NFL if not for diversity efforts.
The NFL’s well-known Rooney Rule, which required teams to interview at least one minority candidate for executive and coaching staff job openings, was enacted in 2003. The rule is named after Dan Rooney, former Pittsburgh Steelers owner, and former NFL diversity committee chair.
In 2021, many considered to be a response to the national political fervor over the George Floyd riots and, tangentially, the Colin Kaepernick controversy, the NFL expanded the rule to require teams to interview two minority candidates for job openings for head coaching and general manager positions.
Goodell touted the program’s success and explained that it provided opportunities in the NFL without requiring teams to follow a quota system to hire people based on race or gender.
“There’s no requirement to hire a particular individual on the basis of race or gender,” Goodell said. “It’s simply on the basis of looking at a canvas of candidates that reflect our communities and to look at the kind of talent that exists there, and then you make the best decision on who is hired.”
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“There are no quotas in our system. This is about opening that funnel and bringing the best talent into the NFL,” he added.
Super Bowl 59 will be played in New Orleans on Sunday between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.