Last week, the Ravens announced that general manager Ozzie Newsome will step down in 2019, allowing longtime assistant GM Eric DeCosta to take over. Although the position has been filled without first interviewing a minority candidate, the Fritz Pollard Alliance has confirmed that the team is not in violation of the Rooney Rule. 
“Under Rooney Rule protocol, when a club has established a firm succession plan that involves an internal coach or executive replacing a departing head coach or general manager, no external search is required,” the Fritz Pollard Alliance said in a statement (via Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun). “Examples of such circumstances include Jim Caldwell‘s succession of Tony Dungy as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts and Jim Mora‘s succession of Mike Holmgren as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. DeCosta’s pending succession of Newsome does not violate the Rooney Rule. The FPA salutes Ozzie Newsome for his groundbreaking tenure with the Ravens and congratulates DeCosta on his pending promotion.”
The succession plan has been in the works “over the last five years,” according to Newsome. Michael David Smith of PFT first reported that the move was not in violation of the Rooney Rule.
so if they know who they want and he works for them, it’s ok… if they know who they want and he doesn’t work for them, they have to conduct sham interviews… which would be be more insulting to me than if they just hired who they want to begin with
Hahahahaha
Only 1 time has a team been cited for violating the Rooney Rule, and that was way back under Tagliabue. The NFL doesn’t take it seriously, the teams don’t take it seriously, and there is no evidence that it has accelerated minority advances in higher ranks that would happen naturally without the rule. Time to drop it.
So, clearly, the Raiders should have hired Gruden as assistant, laid out a succession plan and then promoted him an hour later.
Dumb rule.
The owners manage to get over their assumed racism long enough to employ 70+% black players for hundred of millions of dollars a year, maybe they can manage to hire the best coach so as to not waste that sizable investment without a toothless joke of a rule just for show?
Cause it’s “assumed racism” when McNair says the “inmates are running the asylum” and when Jerry Jones forces his players to stand for the anthem right? “Assumed racism” while they’re blackballing Kaepernick??
Kaepernick was not blackballed because of his race; he was blackballed because his actions—no matter their merit or reasons—had the potential to impact the company’s (team) bottom line. In a business you don’t employ a liability unless his/her skills are so invaluable they make up for that liability. And Kaepernick, while supremely talented, was not an elite QB, and could not win games once Harbaugh and the elite defense left SF.
If Cam Newton committed the same actions as Kaepernick he’d still be the Panthers QB. Same with Antonio Brown of the Steelers. Teams wouldn’t care what the player does if he’s good enough, and Kaepernick isn’t. But yeah, make it all about skin color.