Florida AG opens formal probe into NFL’s Rooney Rule, ‘discriminatory hiring quotas’

The National Football League is facing sweeping demands in a formal investigation by the federal government into its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier (R) issued a subpoena to the NFL offices in New York for “extensive records dating back to 2020,” suggesting the league has violated the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. Uthmeier posted the letter to the league on social media on Wednesday, noting “how quickly the NFL changed its website in response to our letter and capitulated on some of their discriminatory hiring quotas,” in reference to a March 25 letter that offered “a word of caution” to the league on how the Rooney Rule “brazenly violates Florida law.”

“But their response raises more questions about the Rooney Rule, and we look forward to their cooperation with the investigative subpoena we issued them today,” the Florida AG wrote.

We appreciate how quickly the NFL changed its website in response to our letter and capitulated on some of their discriminatory hiring quotas.

But their response raises more questions about the Rooney Rule, and we look forward to their cooperation with the investigative subpoena… pic.twitter.com/yi6BmSjZLx

— Attorney General James Uthmeier (@AGJamesUthmeier) May 13, 2026

The subpoena requested records that cover “the Rooney Rule, the Offensive Assistant Mandate, Resolution JC-2A, the Accelerator Program and the Mackie Development Program,” according to Outkick. “It seeks internal policies, communications with government agencies, legal challenges (including those tied to the Brian Flores lawsuit), compliance tracking, enforcement actions, and detailed hiring datahiring data — including candidate race and sex.”

“This sweeping investigative demand makes it obvious that the AG is investigating practically every Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) program related to coaching, front office, and other executive advancement initiatives that might provide an advantage for one class of people while ignoring or not serving another class,” Outkick noted.

In Uthmeier’s letter to the league in March, he wrote that “the Rooney Rule and its offshoots require precisely what Florida law forbids. They require teams to limit, segregate, and classify applicants for certain employment and training opportunities because of race and sex. And they do so in a way that tends to deprive applicants of opportunities for employment.”

NFL General Counsel Ted Ullyot responded to the letter by the May 1 deadline, but, evidently, Uthmeier was not satisfied.

“In the end, year after year, the NFL has bemoaned the hiring of ‘white’ coaches rather than ‘coaches of color.’ This obsession with hiring based on race is wrong. It also violates Florida law,” he wrote.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has stood behind the league’s diversity policies.

“Our efforts are fundamental in trying to attract the best possible talent into the National Football League, both on and off the field, as I said previously, and we see that,” Goodell said last year. “We see how it’s benefited the National Football League, so I think we’ll continue those efforts.”

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