Steelers' Art Rooney II: NFL looking to talk with Florida AG who opposes Rooney Rule

Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Mar 31, 2026

Published in Football

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

PHOENIX — Even though it wasn’t officially on the agenda, NFL owners voiced their support of the Rooney Rule on Tuesday after comments made by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier alleging the rule was unlawful and should be discontinued.

Steelers president Art Rooney II said the league wants to have some discussions with Uthmeier, who said the Rooney Rule violates Florida law because it requires “race-based considerations in hiring.”

Florida has three NFL franchises in the state in Miami, Tampa and Jacksonville.

“I think everybody is still in favor of the Rooney Rule,” Rooney said after a meeting with the other 31 owners. “There’s no discussion about, you know, getting rid of it, that’s for sure.”

In a video he posted on social media, Uthmeier said, “Hiring decisions cannot be based on race. And the Rooney Rule mandates race-based interviews and incentivizes race-based decisions. That’s discrimination.” He demanded the NFL stop enforcing the rule when hiring candidates for head coach, coordinator and front-office positions.

“We’ll probably have some discussion with the attorney general down there just to make sure he understands what exactly we do,” Rooney said. “It’s not a hiring rule. I think we’re comfortable with where we are.”

Rooney said he did not anticipate any changes to the rule, named for his father, Dan, the late Steelers chairman.

“We always are looking at our employment policies, and every year we do an analysis of what we’re doing, what we can do, to improve the situation,” Rooney said. “But I don’t expect any major change to the rule.”

Meantime, after originally saying he wasn’t sure he liked the idea of league personnel in New York being able to call penalties on the field during a game, Rooney appeared to be fine with what ultimately was decided.

Faced with the possibility of using replacement referees, league owners voted Tuesday to approve a contingency plan that would allow replay assist in the event of a work stoppage by the NFL Referees Association.

The series of changes will not apply if the NFLRA officials are under contract when games begin.

“Hopefully we don’t have to use it,” Rooney said. “I think the rule will help if we need it.”

According to the way the rule was worded, league staff members in the league's officiating command center could alert a replacement referee if they see clear and obvious evidence of an uncalled foul for roughing the passer, intentional grounding or an act that would normally lead to disqualification.

Even if there is an agreement with the NFLRA, league personnel are allowed to consult with on-field officials when considering disqualifications for both flagrant football acts and non-football acts that weren’t called on the field.

Also, as part of several adopted measures for kickoffs, teams are allowed to declare an onside kick at any point in the game. The rule that incentivized teams to kick the ball out of bounds from the 50-yard line was also eliminated.