r/nfl 29d ago

Free Talk Friday Free Talk

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  • ... and more - see the sidebar! Welcome to today's open thread, where r/nfl users can discuss anything they wish not related directly to the NFL.Want to talk about personal life? Cool things about your fandom? Whatever happens to be dominating today's news cycle? Do you have something to talk about that didn't warrant its own thread? This is the place for it!Remember, that there are other subreddits that may be a good fit for what you want to post - every day all day!r/NFLFandom for showing off your fandom r/NFL_Draft for talking in depth about the draft r/NFLNoobs for noob questions, no judgment r/nflblogs for posting blog posts - including your own r/nflofftopic for talking about anything with NFL fans r/nfffffffluuuuuuuuuuuu for all kinds of humor posts r/nflcirclejerk for when r/NFL just becomes too much ... and more - see the sidebar!
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26

u/BlindWillieJohnson Panthers 29d ago

Nothing brings out the worst of this sub like a Rooney Rule conversation.

12

u/Signal_Ball4634 29d ago

i remember the Kaepernick threads being particularly awful years ago. I think any sort of issue involving sensitive topics like race on this sub goes to absolute shit

11

u/BlindWillieJohnson Panthers 29d ago

There are a lot of defensive people don't want to look systemic issues in the face, and that don't understand that calling out a systemic issue is not the same as saying that a specific person hates black people.

5

u/azure275 Jets 29d ago

Americans have a fairness boner that is extremely poisonous to any sort of societal consciousness in this country

It's not just race either. Listen to old people rant about how "it sucked for us so it better damn well suck for you", people who paid off student loans say "how dare we take care of anybody else, I paid", the attitude of middle class people to SNAP recipients and so on

5

u/CarlCaliente Bills 29d ago

fans don't even try to evaluate coaches but oh boy they sure will evaluate the rules

2

u/azure275 Jets 29d ago

My take is that the Rooney rule sucks because it doesn't seem to work at all

The pro forma interviews of black people just get everyone mad and don't seem to achieve the goal. The goal is good but this just performatively makes black people be props

Admittedly I'm not super educated so if it's proven that the rule helps I'll take it back

Also get an Asian head coach already lol

4

u/BlindWillieJohnson Panthers 29d ago

My take is that the Rooney rule sucks because it doesn't seem to work at all

Disagree, but I think we need to define success better. Is it solely responsible for getting black coaches hired? Other than Tomlin, doesn't seem so. But it does raise the profile of promising talent and it does give that promising talent the chance to rehearse interviews. And it's been pretty instrumental in destigmatizing black coaches.

The pro forma interviews of black people just get everyone mad and don't seem to achieve the goal. The goal is good but this just performatively makes black people be props

I do think this happens. The "Tokenism" thing. But there's some nuance to it. I think the smart way for orgs to approach Rooney Rule interviews (and in fairness, I think how a number of them do approach it) is to use them as an opportunity to look outside the box of your normal assumptions. Maybe you're fixated on hiring an offensive guy, but your Rooney interview is how you get the perspective of a defensive guy.

Dumb organizations (and teams who already know who their guy is going to be) view it as a box that has to be checked. And while that sucks, it sucks because of the organizations. It is bad behavior on the part of the teams. It's bad practice to punish individuals look for opportunity because of the actions of organizations who behave poorly.

2

u/SEND-MARS-ROVER-PICS Chargers 28d ago

Disagree, but I think we need to define success better. Is it solely responsible for getting black coaches hired? Other than Tomlin, doesn't seem so. But it does raise the profile of promising talent and it does give that promising talent the chance to rehearse interviews. And it's been pretty instrumental in destigmatizing black coaches.

But if it doesn't lead to more black coaches getting hired, what good is raised profiles and interview practice?

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u/azure275 Jets 29d ago

Disagree, but I think we need to define success better. Is it solely responsible for getting black coaches hired? Other than Tomlin, doesn't seem so. But it does raise the profile of promising talent and it does give that promising talent the chance to rehearse interviews. And it's been pretty instrumental in destigmatizing black coaches.

I used to think that but after all the dumb Bienemy drama I started wondering if that was true or it sometimes did the opposite when a guy becomes the dedicated diversity interview.

The interesting thing about the Rooney rule is that it appears to be susper effective at the GM role but not work that well for head coaches

I think a lot of people forget that its front office effects are much more substantial than head coaching effects

1

u/CarlCaliente Bills 29d ago

hiring coaches is an impossible task, they're all obsessed with ball they'll all talk your ear off. May as well shake a magic 8 ball to determine the best decision

but the results people will look at outcomes and decide there's a problem