News - February 7, 2005

THREE CHEERS FROM THE FRITZ POLLARD ALLIANCE

JOINT STATEMENT BY CHAIR JOHN WOOTEN AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR HARRY CARSON

WASHINGTON, D.C. -This weekend marks a momentous time for fairness, equality and diversity in the National Football League.

First, on Saturday, Fritz Pollard was inducted into the National Football League Hall of Fame. In the NFL's first decade, Pollard was a major force as a player and a coach. As a star running back, he led his team, the Akron Pros, to an undefeated championship season in 1920. A few years later, he became the first black coach in NFL history before the League's owners made a fateful decision to turn an integrated league into a segregated league. Despite the injustice, Pollard handled himself with dignity and attempted to show the League the error of its ways by establishing Negro football teams ready, willing and able to compete with the strictly white NFL teams. Pollard is the namesake and the inspiration of our organization.

Second, on Sunday, Donovan McNabb became the third black starting quarterback in a Super Bowl, following Doug Williams (Super Bowl XXII) and Steve McNair (Super Bowl XXXIV). One of the League's most valuable players, and a true leader on and off the field, McNabb won the NFC championship without his leading wide receiver and fought gallantly for his team on Super Bowl Sunday. We will be forever proud of him for gracefully and thoughtfully handling racially motivated comments directed at him by an infamous talk radio host last year. McNabb represents the best of the NFL.

Third, this morning, the Cleveland Browns announced their next head coach will be New England Patriots' defensive coordinator Romeo Crennell. Crennell's defenses, often with key injuries, have shut down all of the NFL's top-flight offenses. He has been instrumental in the Patriots' winning three of the past four Super Bowls. Crennell's selection raised the number of African American head coaches to a record number of six.

This record of six head coaches comes 26 months after the 32 NFL owners adopted the Rooney Rule, which requires that at least one minority candidate be interviewed for each head coach opening. The Rule seeks to establish fair competition and a level playing field and has resulted in a 200% increase in the number of African American head coaches. Specifically, four of the 15 head coaches selected since the adoption of the Rule have been African American (Coaches Lewis, Green, Smith and Crennell).

The following information highlights how the Rooney Rule is gaining momentum:

Source: Black Coaches in The National Football League: Superior Performance, Inferior Opportunities, by Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. and Cyrus Mehri

Representation levels have risen from 6.25% in 2002 to 18.75% for 2005.

The Rule has also helped create a change in culture impacting all levels of the NFL coaching, scouting and front office positions. A number of African American Executives, such as James Harris of Jacksonville, Rod Graves of Arizona, Doug Williams of Tampa Bay, Woody Dixon of Kansas City Chiefs, and Martin Mayhew of Detroit Lions have been selected after being given a chance for in-person interviews.

It is fitting that this historic weekend occurred during Black History Month. We applaud the Hall of Fame selection committee, we applaud the Eagles and Patriots for Super Bowl seasons, and we applaud the Cleveland Browns. Three Cheers for positive changes in the National Football League!!!

The Fritz Pollard Alliance is an affinity group of minority coaching, front office and scouting personnel. It is the only organization of its kind in major league sports.