PennMom, you are probably right in your analysis, but from an outsiders standpoint, when you have the guy who has the affirmative action rule in the league named after him, I can understand how people would think that.
I dont think its intellectually fair to expect that if an owner publicly pushes affirmative action, then hires a minority, that people wont assume that he was just following his ideology, or that it at least played a part in the hire.
The person that this is ultimately kind of sad for is Mike Tomlin, who turns out to be an excellent coach, and in hindsight, the best man for the job.
But, since we know the owner in question wants there to be more black coaches, no one can honestly say that they know whether or not race was a factor in his hiring, and I think its fair to ask the question rhetorically. If we didnt have such a stupid rule in place, then this wouldn’t even be a question...we would just assume the Rooney’s hired Tomlin on his merits.
Consider this: the Rooneys named Kordell Stewart— who is black —to be the quarterback of the team on the first day the national NAACP convention was in Pittsburgh. I forget the year, maybe 1998. That turned out not to be as good a decision as Tomlin. I was very turned off when Mr. Rooney thanked Barack Obama tonight — for what? But I love my Steelers.
Considering the outcome of the game, and the season the Steelers have had I’m sure you can conclude that Mike Tomlin was the man for the job. You don’t put a big business franchise in the hands of some sort of affirmative action pick. Mike actually knows what he’s doing. Don’t degrade his skill.