Report: Some NFL employees think Raiders got off easy on Rooney Rule discipline

Word that the Oakland Raiders were found to have complied with the Rooney Rule has not gone down well everywhere — including, reportedly, at NFL headquarters.

ESPN’s Jim Trotter reported that there was some private “head-shaking” among NFL employees over the fact that the Raiders will face no discipline for their hiring process, which satisfied the rule as written but included little more than courtesy interviews to fulfill their requirements while waiting to formally hire Jon Gruden.

The head-shaking regarding this decision can even be seen at league headquarters, where some employees privately maintain that the Raiders should have been disciplined. The NFL should save itself the embarrassment and do away with the rule. You can’t legislate morality. https://t.co/JYIhhbn4wd

— Jim Trotter (@JimTrotter_NFL) January 19, 2018

The NFL did confirm the Raiders’ version of events, namely that two minority candidates were interviewed for their head coaching position. It is abundantly clear, though, that neither was ever a serious candidate for the job. They fulfilled the rule as written, but certainly didn’t do as the spirit of the rule intended — not a good look, but enough to get away with it.