Advocacy Groups Making A Joke Of Rooney Rule In Scrutinizing Raiders

After six years of pursuing Jon Gruden as an organization (even Reggie McKenzie was recruiting him back in 2012), the coach that should never haven gotten away, is finally coming home.

What a great story.

Former Raider greats showed up from all over the country to welcome Gruden on Tuesday and a downtrodden fan base was once again re-energized with the announcement of their beloved “Chucky”.

Gruden was exactly what the Raiders needed and the timing couldn’t have been better.

But there’s a problem.

Critics want to point to the Rooney Rule and say minority coaches weren’t given a fair chance.

And this is where the rule is miserably flawed because a coach like Bill Belichick, even with his illustrious resume, wouldn’t have gotten the job over Gruden.

But we’re supposed to be upset because the Raiders didn’t give a fair opportunity to a handful of minority candidates?

Well, technically, they did. But by following the rules, the process looked even more foolish.

McKenzie interviewed the Raiders tight end coach and his son’s offensive coordinator at USC to see how they stacked up against Gruden.

That is an embarrassment.

Historically, the Raiders have paved the way more than any other organization in sports for women and minorities to break through in professional sports and presently have one of the only African-American general managers in football – who, coincidentally, survived Gruden’s arrival only at the demand of owner Mark Davis.

Some are upset because that the decision was already made before Bobby Johnson and Tee Martin interviewed, but every coach the Raiders hired since 2012 – when Mark Davis took over – was at the mercy of Gruden’s return.

If anything, the process was probably more unfair to the coaches that were keeping Gruden’s seat warm.

Dennis Allen knew Davis didn’t like him almost immediately. Davis actually liked Del Rio and barely let him walk off the field before firing him.

In theory, the Rooney Rule has good intentions, but when advocacy groups, like the Fritz Pollard Alliance, attack the organization that hired Tom Flores, Art Shell (twice), Amy Trask, Reggie McKenzie, Hue Jackson, Aaron Brooks, Daunte Culpepper, JaMarcus Russell, Jason Campbell, and Terrelle Pryor, the rule becomes embarrassingly flawed.

No one genuinely believes the Raiders are making decisions based on skin color and for that reason, the Rooney Rule becomes a joke when lawyers point to the Raiders as an organization holding minorities back.

If the Fritz Pollard Alliance wants a legitimate battle to fight, maybe find out why so many legendary Raiders, who also happen to be minorities, aren’t already in the Hall of Fame.

twitter: @raidersbeat