Vol. 21 No. 8 (August, 2011) pp.459-461
ADVANCING THE BALL: RACE, REFORMATION, AND THE QUEST FOR EQUAL COACHING
OPPORTUNITY IN THE NFL, by N. Jeremi Duru.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. 224pp. Hardback. $24.95/£15.99. ISBN:
9780199736003.
Reviewed by: Curtis Fogel, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies, Lakehead
University- Orillia. Email: cafogel[at]lakeheadu.ca.
In the beginning of the 1989 National Football League (NFL) season, all of the
32 head coaches were white. In the 2010 season, there were seven African
American head coaches at the helm of NFL teams. In ADVANCING THE BALL, N. Jeremi
Duru, a law professor at Temple University, traces the struggles that led to the
expansion of head coaching opportunities for African American men and other men
of color. In so doing, Duru has written a masterpiece of social inquiry,
depicting an important modern-day civil rights story.
Duru tells a persuasive story, in a compelling way. The book reads like a legal
drama with character development, thick descriptions, suspense, and seemingly
insurmountable obstacles to overcome in the fight for race reformation in the
NFL. The central protagonist of the story, Cyrus Mehri, is a lawyer made famous
in legal circles through successfully winning a civil case against Coca-Cola.
Mehri begins a fight against racial injustice in the NFL out of pure interest
with no possible remuneration. His fight is guided not just by injustice in the
NFL, but by the important example the NFL sets for American society given its
popularity as a central institution of American culture. Duru suggests that
Mehri’s motivation stems largely from a belief that “racial progress in the
sports world often helped propel broader societal progress” (p.30).
As the plot continues, Duru describes how Mehri enlists the help of others to
further his cause. He joins forces with another charismatic lawyer, Johnnie
Cochran, who is best remembered for successfully defending O.J. Simpson in a
high-profile murder trial. The two lawyers formed a team that was both
successful in their vocations and had public notoriety from high-profile cases
they had won. Fighting the NFL would prove to be a difficult challenge, however,
because there was no complainant to which they were seeking damages, nor a clear
target to wage their battle against. From the outset, it was unclear whether it
was the individual owners and managers of teams in the NFL who were to blame for
racial inequalities, or if it was the main office of the league. Mehri and
Cochran decided that it was both, but that the league could step in and dictate
the terms that could lead to the end of racial injustice within each
organization.
While a preliminary survey of coaching in the NFL seemed to suggest clear racial
inequality in head coaching, the legal team lacked concrete evidence that racial
discrimination was at play. Duru suggests that, to help make their case, a
statistical study was commissioned to [*460] examine racial dynamics of coaching
in the NFL. The statistics revealed a significant trend whereby African American
coaches were the last to be hired, and the first to be fired. Furthermore, the
statistics revealed that racial inequalities in hiring and firing had little to
do with coaching performance. In fact, the study revealed that African American
coaches outperformed white coaches in categories of wins in their first year
with a team, wins in the season in which their job was terminated, and overall
wins per season. The statistics revealed a clear case of racial discrimination
in the NFL.
With clear evidence of racial discrimination, Mehri and Cochran wrote a report
detailing their findings and recommendations for racial reform in the NFL. The
report led to a meeting with front office personnel of the NFL led by their
legal counsel, specifically Jeff Pash a graduate of Harvard Law. Mehri
successfully fought to have his concerns heard by the NFL. The NFL head office,
however, placed blame on the individual owners of the teams and placed decisions
pertaining to racial reform in their hands. This led to meetings of the owners,
whereby an agreement was struck requiring all teams to interview at least one
individual of color for every head coaching position. This rule became known as
the Rooney Rule. Although seen by many as a major victory, the rule meant little
since there were no negative sanctions attached to non-compliance. It was, in a
sense, an honorary rule that teams could choose to follow or ignore. Within the
first three head coaching searches, two teams completely ignored the agreement,
revealing its ineffectiveness.
Mehri, and others who had begun to join in his fight, decided to hold a meeting
at the NFL combine with invitations sent to all non-white coaches, trainers,
administrators, and other team personnel. The aim was to discuss racial
inequality, especially in relation to head coaching, in the NFL. More than one
hundred people were present at the meeting, which led to the development of the
Fritz Pollard Alliance aimed at fighting racial inequality in the NFL. With
increased pressure from the Alliance, the NFL head office backed the Rooney
Rule, and fined the Detroit Lions $200,000 for violating it. In the following
season, all seven teams searching for a new head coach complied with the rule.
While the establishment of the Rooney Rule was a major victory for Mehri and
everyone who fought for racial equality in the NFL, Duru concludes his story
with perhaps a more memorable victory for the civil rights movement in
professional football and American society more generally. Duru’s story
concludes with Super Bowl XLI played on February 4, 2007 between the
Indianapolis Colts and the Chicago Bears. The game represented the first time
two African American head coaches, Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith, went head-to-head
in the Super Bowl. Without detailing the game, Duru ends his book with the
contention that “the game’s outcome meant little. They had all already won”
(p.166).
Duru’s impeccable ability to tell a compelling non-fiction story is a highlight
of this work. It reads as a page-turner from the opening statement that the NFL
has long been “a whites-only business” (p.1) until the final climax [*461] where
two African American coaches meet in the championship of American football.
Other highlights of the book include the detailed descriptions that Duru
provides of closed-door meetings and personal discussions with NFL players and
administrators. Gaining access to conduct this type of study on a professional
sports organization is a special accomplishment for a critical scholar. This
accomplishment alone makes Duru’s work important, while his engaging writing
style makes this book of exceptional quality. This book should be read by
everyone in the sociology of sport, as well as scholars and non-scholars alike
with interests in sports and racial inequality.
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© Copyright 2011 by the author, Curtis Fogel.