Plenty of businesses have adapted their policies regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion in response to the current administration’s aggressive attack on DEI. The NFL has not.
At the recent NFL meetings, Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal collected quotes from Commissioner Roger Goodell and multiple key owners regarding the league’s ongoing commitment to diversity.
Said Goodell: “I’ve been very clear that we think diversity makes us better. I think a lot of our policies are designed to give opportunities and develop that talent. A lot of our programs are designed in that way, and we’re fully committed to continuing that work to try to develop better talent and give them that opportunity and make the NFL better, ultimately. So, we’re all in on that and, obviously, we’re going to be fully compliant with federal laws. We always have been, and we’ll continue to do that.”
Of course, it’s one thing to comply with federal laws. It’s quite another to create a rigged internal system for resolving challenges to whether the league has complied with federal laws. Which the NFL has absolutely done.
Still, the league isn’t backing down from its stated goals, even if the question of whether those goals are being achieved is the subject of legitimate debate.
“We have to stay with the diversity and have it be merit-based as well,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft said, via Fischer. “Most of ownership is committed to that — I know we are committed to this diversity.”
“Most” implies that some aren’t. And it would be interesting to know which owners aren’t, in Kraft’s opinion.
“There’s real progress that’s been made, but there’s always work that has to be done, and I think the league is absolutely committed to the work regardless of any situation that we may find around us,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said.
“The league remains very committed to growing diversity, whether it’s in the coaching staffs, the front office, really just across the league,” Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said. “I don’t think that’s something where you see a significant change in policy.”
Then there’s Jerry Jones, the long-time owner of the Cowboys. Here’s what he said, according to Fischer: “We’re right where we’ve always been. And we’re a part of America, and we all have our opinions and our input, and right now it is the same for me as it was a year ago, two years ago.”
Of course, it’s fair to wonder where Jones was on this topic a year ago, two years ago, seven years ago, and/or 68 years ago. But with a current expectation from those in the highest levels of government that DEI not be tolerated but assaulted by private industry, the collection of quotes from Goodell, Kraft, Blank, Hunt, and Jones reflect a certain amount of courage.
Because they could invite eventual scrutiny and/or executive orders from the person who currently holds the most powerful pen in the world.
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