TAMPA, Fla. -- Dan Rooney was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2000 for his contributions to the league as owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. But one of his greatest legacies in the game of football is something he did after he was already a Hall of Famer.In 2003, Rooney convinced his fellow owners to adopt a new rule requiring every team to interview at least one minority candidate before they could hire a new head coach. Now known as the Rooney Rule, the policy has played a major part in increasing the number of African-American head coaches -- and keeping the NFL far ahead of college football in terms of the diversity in its coaching ranks.
But while Rooney's team is here at the Super Bowl with an African-American coach, Mike Tomlin, he says that hiring Tomlin in 2007 had nothing to do with the Rooney Rule.
"Mike Tomlin was not part of the Rooney Rule," Rooney said today. "We had already interviewed Ron Rivera (who is Latino), and so that fulfilled the obligation. We went on, had heard about Mike, called him in and talked to him. He was very impressive. We got him back and talked to him on the phone often and he just showed that he was going to be a terrific coach, which I think he is coming to be. But he was not part of the Rooney Rule."
Although Rooney said he encountered "a little" resistance from his fellow owners when he proposed the Rooney Rule, he said it didn't take long for everyone to get on board.
"We got it together and it came along and they were satisfied," Rooney said of his fellow owners. "They were pleased with it after it happened."
