More than half of Republicans oppose the Rooney Rule, which mandates NFL teams interview minority candidates for head coaching positions: poll

An NFL game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys.
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A new LA Times/SurveyMonkey poll reveals that 52% of Republicans oppose the NFL's Rooney Rule.
The rule mandates that teams vet minority candidates for head coaching positions.
For years, the league has struggled with diversity among its head coaching ranks.

A majority of Republicans oppose the NFL's Rooney Rule, which mandates that teams interview minority candidates for head coaching and senior-level football positions, according to a Los Angeles Times/SurveyMonkey poll.

The February poll revealed 52% of Republicans disapprove of the rule, while 42% of party members back the directive, which contrasts sharply with the 67% of independents and 85% of Democrats who support the measure.

Overall, a majority of adults (63%) support the rule, while an overwhelming majority of NFL fans (71%) back the measure, according to the poll.

The breakdown along racial lines also indicates broad support for the rule — 80% of Black respondents backed the measure, along with 60% of white respondents, 67% of Latino respondents, and 70% of Asian respondents.

The poll comes as the Super Bowl LVI's highly-anticipated matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and the Cincinnati Bengals is set to be held on Sunday amid headlines about diversity that have led to a reawakening among many individuals throughout the league.

Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores earlier this month filed a 58-page lawsuit against the NFL and the Miami Dolphins, Denver Broncos, New York Giants, and "John Doe" Teams 1 through 29 — alleging racial discrimination in the league's hiring practices.

In the lawsuit, Flores accused the Giants of giving him a "sham" head coach interview after including what are purported to be congratulatory text messages that he received from New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick but were intended for Brian Daboll, who was named the head coach of the Giants last month.

The text messages were allegedly received from Belichick three days before Flores was set to sit down with Giants executives.

The Giants earlier this month denied the allegations.

"Mr. Belichick does not speak for and has no affiliation with the Giants," the statement read. "Mr. Belichick's text exchange provides no insight into what actually transpired during our head coaching search."

In the lawsuit, Flores said the league, which has a player roster that's approximately 70% Black, "remains rife with racism, particularly when it comes to the hiring and retention of Black Head Coaches, Coordinators and General Managers."

He continued: "Over the years, the NFL and its 32-member organizations (the "Teams") have been given every chance to do the right thing. Rules have been implemented, promises made — but nothing has changed. In fact, the racial discrimination has only been made worse by the NFL's disingenuous commitment to social equity."

The Houston Texas this month elevated Lovie Smith, who is Black, to become their new head coach. Mike McDaniels, who is biracial, was recently named the new coach of the Miami Dolphins.

However, the number of Black coaches in the history of the league remains low. At the beginning of 2022, there were 13 NFL teams that had never brought on a non-interim Black head coach, according to NFL.com.

In the survey, there were significant divides on the issue of racial justice within the league, which in the past has included the national debate over former San Francisco 49ers player Colin Kaepernick taking a knee to protest policy brutality.

While 33% of Black respondents feel that the NFL has done "just enough" to support its Black players, a majority — 54% — say the league hasn't done enough. Just 7% of Black respondents say the league has offered "too much" support to Black players.

Among all NFL fans, 44% of respondents feel that the league has done "just enough" for its Black players, while 33% say it hasn't done enough and 21% feel that the league has done "too much." In the survey, 45% of Republicans believe that the NFL has done "too much" to aid Black players, while 57% of Democrats feel that the league could bolster efforts to support its Black players.

The survey was conducted online from February 1-7, with a national sample size of 7,590 adults.

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