By Matthew Paras - The Washington Times - Thursday, January 11, 2018

The advocacy group Fritz Pollard Alliance is calling on the NFL to investigate whether the Oakland Raiders violated the Rooney Rule when hiring Jon Gruden. 

The Rooney Rule requires NFL teams to interview at least one minority candidate before hiring a coach. The Raiders said they followed the rule by interviewing two minority candidates, reportedly USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin and Raiders tight ends coach Bobby Johnson. 

But Raiders owner Mark Davis admitted to a small group of reporters Tuesday that he came to an agreement with Gruden before he even fired coach Jack Del Rio. 

The Fritz Pollard Alliance issued a press release late Wednesday, calling out the NFL and the Raiders. 

“We are deeply concerned by reports that the Oakland Raiders’ owner, Mark Davis, came to an agreement with Jon Gruden about him becoming the Raiders’ next head coach before interviewing any candidates of color,” the statement read.
“If so, the Club violated the Rooney Rule, which was instituted by the NFL in 2003 and requires teams to interview at least one candidate of color for open head coaching and general manager positions.”
“As soon as we learned of the reports, we formally requested that the NFL thoroughly investigate the matter to conclusively determine whether the Rooney Rule was violated — and if it was violated, to impose an appropriate punishment.”
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• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.

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