As if we needed any confirmation...

of how screwed up the NFL's "Rooney Rule" is--the one that requires teams to interview at least one minority before hiring a new head coach--read this article, courtesy of Len Pasquarelli on ESPN.com.

I'm not sure any additional commentary is needed here, but it absolutely blows my mind that the NFL would have two rules (the aforementioned Rooney Rule and the anti-tampering rule with regard to employees of other franchises) whose coexistence could very well result in an NFL franchise losing a potential hire. And for what? So some token minority candidate can have a patronizing cup of coffee with a franshise's owner and front office?

Before one even considers the complications arising from the coexistence of these two rules, there's a fundamental flaw in the intent behind the Rooney Rule: it is entirely unneccessary. The bottom line is that the NFL, as any professional sports league, is a business--a business that is, in almost every case, directly proportional to winning. Consequently, NFL owners are going to hire whomever gives their franchise the best chance to win, with as little regard for one's race as the size of one's manteets.