Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who in March threatened potential civil action against the NFL over the Rooney Rule, has issued an investigative subpoena to the league.
In a new letter to commissioner Roger Goodell, Uthmeier noted the NFL altered the language on its website after receiving his initial warning letter, writing that the league had "capitulated on some of their discriminatory hiring quotas," while arguing the revisions raise additional questions about the policy.
The NFL's previous Rooney Rule description on its website stated the policy aimed to "increase the number of minorities hired" in leadership positions and said that diversity "enriches the game and creates a more effective, quality organization."
The league also removed the sentence that said that the Rooney Rule "aims to increase the number of minorities hired" and changed it to say the RR "expands the pool of candidates considered" and added that the candidates are "qualified." pic.twitter.com/D92gurXqkd
The current version instead describes the Rooney Rule as a set of "best practices designed to expand opportunity" and says the policy is intended to ensure qualified candidates "from a wide range of backgrounds" are considered for leadership roles.
The changes appear to soften or remove explicit references to increasing minority hiring, a central criticism raised by Uthmeier in his challenge to the policy.
The NFL didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
While Uthmeier's original letter focused on the Rooney Rule, his subpoena expands that scope to many of the NFL's diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, including a now discontinued mandate that required teams hire a minority offensive assistant, the league's diversity accelerator program, and the league's 2020 resolution that awards a third-round compensatory draft pick for two years if a minority assistant coach or executive a team developed is hired away as a coach or general manager.