SAN FRANCISCO — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell will implement a “Rooney Rule” requiring that women be interviewed for executive positions with teams around the league and in his own office, too.
Goodell made the announcement Thursday in his opening remarks at the first NFL Women’s Summit, part of Super Bowl 50.
“We believe in diversity,” Goodell said. “We believe we’re better as an organization when we have good people at the table. We have great people at the table. We’re also seeing it on the field.
“… You can see that progress is being made and our commitment is, we have something called the Rooney Rule, which requires us to make sure when we have an opening that on the team or the league level that we are going to interview a diverse slate of candidates. Well, we’re going to make that commitment and we’re going to formalize that we, as a league, are going to do that for women as well in all of our executive positions. Again, we’re going to keep making progress here and make a difference.”
The Bills hired the NFL’s first full-time female assistant coach last month, Kathryn Smith, as special teams quality control coach.
That move comes after Jen Welter coached the Cardinals’ inside linebackers during Arizona’s training camp last summer, while Sarah Thomas became the league’s first female official this past season.
Liz Boardman, a senior client partner at the recruitment firm Korn Ferry, believes such a move by the NFL can only be a benefit and an example for other businesses big or small to diversify and change their hiring practices.
“It shows fantastic progress and momentum. It’s setting a trend for the rest of the world. That’s what sports does, that’s what the NFL can do,” Boardman said. “The NFL has a lot of high-ranking women and this just formalizes the effort they have put forward for several years. It just continues their momentum in terms of leading the charge.”
Thumbnail photo via Jason Getz/USA TODAY Sports Images
