Florida AG issues investigative subpoena to NFL over Rooney Rule

Key Points:

• Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has issued an investigative subpoena to the NFL following concerns about the Rooney Rule and other diversity initiatives, expanding scrutiny beyond his initial threat of civil action.
• Uthmeier criticized the NFL for altering the Rooney Rule language on its website, noting the league replaced explicit references to increasing minority hiring with more vague descriptions about expanding opportunities.
• The original Rooney Rule description aimed to increase minority hires and promote diversity as beneficial to the game, while the revised version frames it as "best practices" to consider candidates from diverse backgrounds.
• Uthmeier's subpoena also targets other NFL diversity programs, including a discontinued minority offensive assistant mandate, the diversity accelerator program, and the 2020 draft pick resolution rewarding teams for developing minority coaches or executives.
• The attorney general raised concerns that the NFL's website changes might violate Florida's deceptive and unfair trade practices laws, questioning why the original language was present if it did not reflect current policies.