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Jim Trotter On NFL’s Failure to Hire Black Coaches: ‘I’m At a Loss For Words’

“I’m at a loss for words here because it truly is so frustrating and so exhausting, and just so unfair to these men who, all they want is an equal opportunity,”

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NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had to have known he would face questions about the league’s head-coach hiring practices in light of Brian Flores’ class-action lawsuit alleging racial discrimination.

Even without Flores’ lawsuit, Goodell likely would’ve had to address the continued lack of minority hiring when nine head-coach positions were open and only two of them went to people of color. New Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel is biracial and the Texans hired Lovie Smith under what could be viewed as questionable circumstances with increased scrutiny over hiring Black coaches.

But the issue is at the forefront of concerns the NFL needs to deal with, so Goodell had to confront the league’s lack of diversity in hiring during his “State of the NFL” press conference on Wednesday. Posing questions on the matter was NFL Network’s Jim Trotter. (The call is coming from inside the house, Rog!)

Video of the exchange was aired on NFL Total Access, which you can see below:

Trotter began by pointing out that 24 of the NFL’s 32 franchises have either had one Black head coach or no Black head coaches. He named the 13 teams that have never hired a Black head coach, then mentioned that the league has never had a majority Black owner and only one Black team president. Seven general managers are Black, five hired in the past 12 months. And now, three Black head coaches, two hired after the Flores lawsuit.

“When we look at the league office, of the top 11 executives, there are only two people of color,” said Trotter. “When we look at NFL Media Group, where I work, there is not one Black person at the senior level in the newsroom who makes decisions about a league whose player population is 70 percent Black.”

“So as a member of the Media Group and as a Black man, I ask why does the NFL and its owners have such a difficult time at the highest levels hiring Black people into decision-making positions?”

Goodell gave what most would view as an evasive answer, saying the league believes in diversity but needs to look at its policies and procedures, and needs to do a better job.

Soon thereafter, Trotter appeared on San Francisco’s Damon & Ratto and talked about putting Goodell on the spot, but not getting a satisfactory answer.

“The thing that was fascinating to me today is when Roger said that no topic has dominated or created more discussion among the owners over the last four to five years than this diversity issue,” Trotter said.

“I’m listening to that and I’m saying, ‘Well, doesn’t that tell you then that you guys aren’t getting it right?’ Here we are, five years later, and we’re still talking about the same thing and the numbers are not actually increasing, but regressing.”

Trotter went on to express his frustration that team owners who haven’t hired Black coaches are on the league’s diversity and social justice committees. Yet when they have head-coach openings, they’re not hiring minorities for those positions.

“I’m at a loss for words here because it truly is so frustrating and so exhausting, and just so unfair to these men who, all they want is an equal opportunity,” said Trotter.

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Former 670 The Score Host ‘Big Papa’ Tommy Williams Has Died

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Courtesy: Lakeshore Public Media

Tommy Williams, who was known for a decade as ‘Big Papa’ Tommy Williams on 670 The Score, died on Wednesday at the age of 66.

Williams began his broadcasting career in his hometown of Gary, Indiana in 1982 at WLTH before moving on to The Score. In 2003, Williams became the PA Announcer for the Gary Southshore RailCats of the American Association where he had his signature call to get the attention of the fans, “People, People, People.”

A story in The Times of Northwest Indiana said, “The longtime RailCats public address announcer and Lakeshore Public Media sports journalist was known for broadcasting countless games, interviewing countless athletes and covering Region sports at all levels. The Gary native and co-host of “Prep Sports Report,” “Prep Football Report,” and “Lakeshore PBS Scoreboard” often signed off shows saying, “Gary, Indiana, you know I love you.”

“The cadence he had in his voice echoed across the Region in a way we may never see again. He was widely known and widely loved,” Tom Maloney, vice president of radio operations at Lakeshore Public Media told the paper.

“He’d want to be remembered as the voice of Lakeshore sports,” his Regionally Speaking co-host and producer Dee Dotson told The Times. “Most people will remember him for covering prep sports all the way up to semi-pros. He’ll be remembered for treating each of his subjects like they were world champions. His depth of knowledge of sports at all levels is commendable. He was a walking encyclopedia of stats.” 

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Compass Media Networks Promotes Three Members to Oversee Play-by-Play Sports Platform

“It is our pleasure to give these three talented executives their day in the sun, knowing that they will continue to work incredibly hard to carry on this tradition of excellence.”

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Compass Media Networks has announced the promotions of three long-standing executives, Robert Blum, Tyler Brewer, and Chris Kleiber, who will collectively oversee the content creation, production, and distribution of the company’s play-by-play sports platform.

“For over 16 years, Compass Media Networks has set a standard of excellence for national play-by-play sports with Chris, Rob, and Tyler playing a vital part in our success,” said Peter Kosann, CEO/Founder of Compass Media Networks. “It is our pleasure to give these three talented executives their day in the sun, knowing that they will continue to work incredibly hard to carry on this tradition of excellence.”

Robet Blum has been appointed Vice President & General Manager of Sports and will also continue to serve as Vice President of Affiliate Sales for News-Talk and Sports. Tyler Brewer has been appointed Executive Producer – Sports Programming. And Chris Kleiber has been appointed Senior Producer – Sports Programming.

Compass Media Networks broadcasts annually over 100 play-by-play sporting events involving college men’s basketball and football (including the Big Ten Tournament and the Big Ten Championship Game), NFL 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday Doubleheaders, and complete coverage of the Dallas Cowboys and Las Vegas Raiders. The broadcasts are distributed across hundreds of terrestrial sports, news-talk and music stations as well as digital distribution platforms such as SiriusXM, Verizon Mobile, and the Varsity App.

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Charley Steiner Injured; Tim Neverett to Handle Dodgers Radio Play-by-Play

“This will be the first Opening Day that I will have missed since 1976, when I wore a younger man’s clothes.”

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Courtesy: Los Angeles Dodgers

As the Los Angeles Dodgers get set to take on the St. Louis Cardinals in their first home game on Thursday, team play-by-play voice Charley Steiner has revealed he will not be doing games at the beginning of the season due to a severe back injury.

Through the Dodgers, Steiner posted a statement which said, “Over the winter, I landed on the Injured List with three compound fractures in my back. (I don’t recommend it.) With the start of the baseball season upon us, the Dodgers are ready to go – but I’m not. This will be the first Opening Day that I will have missed since 1976, when I wore a younger man’s clothes. I look forward to returning to the mic later this season. In the meantime, go Dodgers!”

TrueBlueLA.com reports Tim Neverett will handle play-by-play duties while Steiner recovers. Neverett called the first two regular season games with Rick Monday as the Dodgers started the season in South Korea. Neverett and Monday did not travel with the team, however, they called those games in a studio back home.

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