05/13/26 03:55:00
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05/13 15:54 CDT Florida attorney general issues investigative subpoena to the
NFL over the Rooney Rule
Florida attorney general issues investigative subpoena to the NFL over the
Rooney Rule
By ROB MAADDI
AP Pro Football Writer
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said he has issued an investigative
subpoena to the NFL regarding the Rooney Rule.
Uthmeier, who threatened possible enforcement actions against the league in
March if it didn't suspend the 23-year-old rule, sent the subpoena along with a
letter to NFL executive vice president and attorney Ted Ullyot on Wednesday.
"All in all, the Rooney Rule and the NFL's related ?inclusive hiring' policies
--- and the NFL's representations about these policies --- continue to raise
significant concerns under Florida law," Uthmeier wrote in the letter.
The Rooney Rule requires teams to interview at least two minority candidates
for head coach, general manager and coordinator positions. At least one
minority candidate must be interviewed for the quarterbacks coach position.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, speaking at the league meetings in Phoenix in
March, acknowledged the changing political landscape for diversity initiatives
in the U.S., but added that he didn't believe there should be any legal issues
with the league's policy. "The Rooney Rule has been around a long time,"
Goodell said then. "We've evolved it, changed it. We'll continue to do that."
The NFL didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
In his latest letter, Uthmeier commended the league for altering the Rooney
Rule language on its website after receiving his initial warning letter in
March but added the revisions raise more questions.
The updated terminology on the NFL site says: "The Rooney Rule establishes best
practices designed to expand opportunity and strengthen the NFL's talent
pipeline across leadership roles. It is part of a broader effort to develop a
deep and sustainable talent pipeline across all levels of the NFL. The policy
is intended to ensure that qualified candidates from a wide range of
backgrounds are identified and considered for leadership roles."
The website previously stated the Rooney Rule aims to "increase the number of
minorities hired" in leadership positions and said that diversity "enriches the
game and creates a more effective, quality organization."
"We appreciate how quickly the NFL changed its website in response to our
letter and capitulated on some of their discriminatory hiring quotas," Uthmeier
said. "But their response raises more questions about the Rooney Rule, and we
look forward to their cooperation with the investigative subpoena we issued
them today."
Uthmeier sent his first letter to Goodell in March, saying the rule amounts to
"blatant race and sex discrimination."
The subpoena expands the focus beyond the Rooney Rule and includes other NFL
diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, including a discontinued mandate
that required teams to hire a minority offensive assistant; the diversity
accelerator program; the Mackie development program for college officials; and
the resolution that awards teams draft picks if one of its minority assistant
coaches or executives is hired to be the coach or general manager of another
team.
The NFL's front office and coach accelerator program will be held next week in
Orlando after it was paused in 2025. The program was created as an extension of
the Rooney Rule in 2022 to increase diversity among coaches and front office
executives. It will now include nonminority participants.
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