Should the Raiders get a pass on the Rooney Rule?

12:22 PMAfter I wrote a commentary Tuesday critical of the Oakland Raiders, who have seemingly gone around the Rooney Rule to pursue a reunion with former head coach Jon Gruden, several people on Twitter went at me about the franchise’s groundbreaking hiring record.

Al Davis, the Raiders’ longtime principal owner and general manager until his death in 2011, was definitely a champion of diversity. In 1979, Davis promoted assistant Tom Flores, who is Latino, to head coach making him the league’s first minority head coach to win a Super Bowl and then a second one.

Then in 1989, Davis made Art Shell, a Hall of Fame offensive lineman with the Raiders, the first black head coach in the modern history of the NFL. In 1997, Davis appointed Amy Trask the team’s CEO. Until she resigned in 2013, Trask was a member of a very rare club as one of the most powerful women in professional sports.

Davis was a maverick. He also was a trailblazer among owners when it came to hiring.

Davis’ son, Mark, hired Reggie McKenzie, who’s African-American, to be the team’s general manager. Yep. The Davis family has been much more progressive than other owners.

And that has absolutely nothing to do with the current situation.

Both things are true: Flores, Shell and Trask were impressive hires. The Raiders also have skirted the Rooney Rule to rehire Gruden, a move that appears imminent. Sure, the Raiders will likely interview a candidate of color, but that candidate has a zero percent chance of getting the job. That’s making a mockery of the rule.

On Tuesday night, Trask took to Twitter with her position on the issue. The past has nothing to do with this week’s events, she wrote.

Many have asked me whether I think OAK should be required to comply w/Rooney Rule or whether OAK should be given leeway b/c of Al’s legacy. If OAK opts to comply, it should do so honestly and in good faith. If OAK does not wish to do that, it should (1/2)

— Amy Trask (@AmyTrask) January 3, 2018

(2/2) be forthright and choose to pay a fine. But I don’t believe that Al’s legacy should be used as justification for non compliance – Al hired Tom and Art and me – and Al would be the first to be saddened if it was.

— Amy Trask (@AmyTrask) January 3, 2018

Should the Raiders get a pass on the rule because of their hiring history? Tell us what you think.