Football

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier says he still has not received an official response from the NFL after he put the league on notice that the Rooney Rule violates the Florida Civil Rights Act, but he did push back on Commissioner Roger Goodell's suggestion he is trying to change the league's values."I don't think this is about values," Uthmeier told OutKick and Fox News in an exclusive interview on Wednesday. "I think it's about the law. You know, we are not a racist people. I do not believe the NFL is a racist organization. When you look at the composition of the players and the contracts altogether with staff, you have a majority minority organization. So this notion that they need to kneel down and apologize is wrong. They need to follow the law." The NFL's hiring practices, in part guided by the Rooney Rule, which was instituted in 2003 and has been expanded multiple times, came under Uthmeier's scrutiny when he sent a letter to the league outlining why he believes it violates Florida law — thus affecting the Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.Uthmeier sent a letter to Goodell, which the NFL acknowledged it received. He also sent a copy of that letter to the ownership of the three Florida teams.Goodell's initial response at the NFL annual meeting when asked what the NFL would change as a result was, "One thing that doesn't change is our values."Beyond that sound bite, the league has not responded even as the May 1 deadline Uthmeier set for a response approaches."No official response, no, sir," Uthmeier said, adding that "is a little surprising." And what happens after May 1 if the league decides this matter isn't worthy of an official response or that its Rooney Rule is just fine as written?"We will likely, in short order, I mean, I'm always willing to have conversations. We'll hear arguments," Uthmeier said. "If they can make the case that this doesn't violate Florida law, I'll certainly listen to it. But we feel pretty confident that it does violate the law, and then we will likely soon thereafter file a complaint in Florida state court." The NFL previously told OutKick the Rooney Rule "does not mandate hiring decisions and "those decisions are made by each club." By saying this, the league is highlighting that the Rooney Rule does not violate any hiring practice laws.But are interview practice rules that favor one race over another illegal in Florida?"I do believe it's illegal, but you noticed they focused on the interview angle," Uthmeier said. "They didn't even address the other two parts of the rule that do explicitly have racial hiring quotas for some of the other positions. They didn't address the awarding of draft picks if you check some of these DEI boxes. "You can't provide advantages in the employment space that you're denying to somebody else. So I mean, if you have a situation where, let's say, you want a black coach, you know who you want. You see the candidate and he's the best. There's no rule that says, well, you still got to go interview two white guys. That, to me, is the example that shows how, even in the interview space, this is unlawful. The other two, and I noticed they didn't comment on, you know, the other position. That is a quota."Art Rooney, a surviving namesake of the Rooney Rule, told reporters at the annual meeting that "everybody is in favor of the Rooney Rule" and there was no discussion about getting rid of it.That seemingly sends a message: Uthmeier is in for a legal battle with the NFL."Seems that way," Uthmeier said. "You know, there are still some meetings in time ahead. I assume they're talking to counsel about their legal exposure. And, you know, if they've got lawyers that are reading the law the way we are, I'm sure somebody's telling them it might be wise to apply this differently in Florida or possibly carve out some aspects of the rule. But if they choose not to, again, we believe under Florida's civil rights laws that their employment practice is illegal, and we will bring civil action."The NFL recently altered its Accelerator Program, which originally was designed to put minority head coach and general manager candidates in settings where they could meet NFL owners. Those opportunities to get in front of people doing the hiring were only offered to minorities, but after pausing the program in 2025, the league says it will restart the program this year in a reimagined format. Now white men are allowed to participate after being previously excluded.Uthmeier says that is "progress."But, he adds, there is more work to do, and he doesn't mind ending the Rooney Rule to make an example of the NFL."I think it's come to an end," he said. "We do see a shift in corporate America. We've seen a huge shift to get away from ESG and DEI and things that aren't focused on doing business, that are not focused on profit, but are instead focused on a socialist agenda that people aren't paying for, that shareholders aren't approving. "When people buy stock in a company, they want to see returns. They don't want to see socialist, Marxist ideology … The endgame, for me, would be to have the rule repealed. And this goes beyond the NFL. I mean, is this impacting a huge number of the work force in Florida? 'It's not, but it's the bigger picture that when the NFL is carrying on this very public, racially discriminatory employment practice, it sends a message to everybody in the country, other employers and employees that this is OK, and it's not. It's unconstitutional. We'd like to see it repealed and send a message to other corporations out there that people need to be hired based on merit."