The NFL will begin allowing some players to return to team facilities in a limited reopening.
In a memo sent to each team, the NFL said that players could return to the facility for medical treatment only. The memo states that all teams must adhere to state and local guidelines first. Coaches may not return to the facility at all, and team staff can return at 50-percent capacity beginning May 19th.
That was the first of two story-lines to come from the league Friday. NFL.com broke news on a plan that would change the league's Rooney Rule, a rule rule used to to aide in the hiring of minority coaches in the NFL. The amendment would reward teams with draft picks for hiring minority coaches and general managers. NFL.com breaks down how the rule would be applied here.
The Rooney Rule, which was put in place in 2003, requires all teams to hire a qualified minority for any head coaching vacancy. It has been under scrutiny for the past few season as the number of minority coaches in the NFL have remained low. Only four of the league's 32 head coaches are a minority in a sport where minority athletes are the majority, and experience playing it is considered a coaching advantage. The league will vote on the proposal next week needing 24 of 32 votes to pass.
A second proposal the league will vote on would repeals a team's ability to block assistant coaches from interviewing for coordinator positions with other teams.
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