The quick hiring of John Dorsey as general manager of the Cleveland Browns has drawn a swift rebuke in the context of the Rooney Rule.
With a deal for Dorsey finalized Thursday night — Sashi Brown was dumped as the team’s executive vice president for football operations earlier in the day — John Wooten, head of the Fritz Pollard Alliance, suspected the Browns might have violated the league’s rule that mandates at least one minority candidate be interviewed for GM and head coaching positions.
“I think John Dorsey is a very top quality GM,” Wooten told USA TODAY Sports in a text message. “I am livid that the Browns would totally ignore the work all of us to make the Rooney Rule meaningful.”
A Browns spokesman, however, told USA TODAY Sports that the team complied with the Rooney Rule before the job was offered to Dorsey, who was relieved as GM of the Kansas City Chiefs last summer. Cleveland wouldn’t reveal the identities of any minority candidates interviewed.
It’s conceivable that Browns owner Jimmy Haslam would have conducted the process without involving the Fritz Pollard Alliance. That would be unusual, given the group headed by Wooten promotes and monitors opportunities for minorities and pushed for the rule named for late Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney. The Rooney Rule was established for coaches in 2003 and later revised to include GMs.
The NFL could investigate the matter. If it is found that the Browns violated the spirit of the Rooney Rule by conducting a sham interview, the team could be fined or docked draft picks, which would be ironic given how hard Brown worked to accumulate them.
