Remember when color didn't matter? Remember when you could hire the best person for the job? Remember when you owed a private organization and could make decisions for what you paid for? The Rooney Rule ruined all of it, and it's back in the news again.

Wikipedia's definition of the Rooney Rule:

The Rooney Rule, established in 2003, requires National Football League teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation opportunities. It is often cited as an example of affirmative action.

AP3's definition of the Rooney Rule:

A rule that was established because people were terrified about being politically correct and did not want to be called racist for hiring the guy they wanted for the job.

Let's say you own an Italian restaurant. Let's call it Tony C's Little Italy. You are looking for a front of the house manager. A guy looking like Tony Soprano walks in and nails the interview. He's also your stereotypical Italian. He is the perfect face of your restaurant. But then comes a person that looks like this:

Nothing wrong with her, but not what you are looking for in a candidate to be your front of the restaurant manager at Tony C's. There is a zero percent chance that you hire this person for the job. ZERO. Yet because of the rule, you have to waste her time and your time interviewing her for a job she is not going to get. This is what the NFL is doing with the Rooney Rule.

The reason I bring this up, is because the NFL is now talking about expanding the use of the Rooney Rule to the coordinator positions in the NFL. Rob Ryan is a fat slob, but he is one of the best defensive minds available on the coordinator market (if not the best). Yet now if you want him as your coordinator and he wants to be yours, you are going to have to waste everyone's time being politically correct and interviewing someone who is a minority. My question is; does the rule work both ways? Say you're the Browns and you wanted Lovie Smith to be your Head Coach. Do you have to give a white person an interview? Or no because the only person you interviewing is a minority so you don't have to interview a non-minority?

It all comes back to people being afraid of being labeled racist. Again, this is a private industry, so since you paid for the team, you should be able to hire whoever you want. It's 2013 people need to grow up and not cry racism if a white person is hired over a minority. In fact the creators of this rule are just as racist as people in the early 1900s that made black people use separate restrooms, entrances, tables, etc. YOU ARE LABELING PEOPLE AS MINORITIES BY ENFORCING THIS RULE. The person the team wants for the job should be hired. Nine times out of ten they will hire who they want anyway despite the nuisance of the Rooney Rule delaying the process. Here's the kicker, if the NFL ever decided to get rid of the Rooney Rule because of its stupidity and labeling of people, the NFL would get called racist. #NotBS

ap3
Monday, January 21, 2013