Push to consider minorities for top league job applauded

0 Comments | USA TODAY, March, 2006 | by Skip Wood

Cyrus Mehri smiled with approval Tuesday when reading that outgoing NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue mentioned during a conference call he strongly believes minority candidates should be considered as his replacement.

"We think it's very important," said Mehri, the high-powered attorney who helped spearhead the effort that led to the NFL's so-called Rooney Rule in 2002, "and we agree with (the commissioner) that it's important to lead by example for every position, including, and perhaps more importantly, as commissioner."

After all, inasmuch that the league now fines teams for not interviewing minorities for head-coaching vacancies, what message would it send if a similar standard isn't applied to the search for the organization's biggest job?

Tagliabue and...