The women of “The View” really loved the Super Bowl halftime show — but they still aren’t happy with the NFL as a whole. On Monday’s show, the hosts argued that the league still has a long way to go when it comes to racial equity.
The Super Bowl was, of course, the first topic of discussion during the show, with the panel congratulating the Rams on their victory. Then, they turned to the halftime show, which featured Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige and Eminem. The women agreed that the performances were incredible, but noted that just having a show that primarily featured Black artists wasn’t enough.
“I do want to say though, as celebratory as it was, as wonderful as it was, I think it’s important not to let the NFL off the hook,” Ana Navarro said. “And not to lose the focus on the conversation about racial equity in hiring management and hiring coaches.”
You can watch the full segment from “The View” in the video above.
Navarro’s comments came in reference to former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores’ lawsuit against the league, alleging that racial discrimination played a part in his interview processes with the Denver Broncos and New York Giants, as well as in his firing last month by Miami.
Host Sunny Hostin agreed with Navarro, arguing that the NFL has a number of problems with racial equity.
“70% of the league’s players are black, but the NFL has no Black ownership, and it has one, arguably two, black coaches,” Hostin said. “That’s abhorrent! It’s ridiculous, and Colin Kaepernick still doesn’t have a job.”
Hostin did not clarify her descriptor of “arguably.” As of this year, only one of 28 NFL head coaches is Black: the Steelers’ Mike Tomlin. There are two other non-Black POC coaches. Ron Rivera of the Washington Commanders is of Puerto Rican and Mexican descent, and Robert Saleh, head coach for the New York Jets, is Lebanese.
Hostin then added that she’s just disappointed in the league.
“To Ana’s point, I’m still very, very disappointed that the NFL hasn’t been able to do better, right?” she said. “I mean, they’re allowing people to kneel, but they’re not really doing the work in terms of racial equity. They’re just not.”
In her comments, Navarro noted that the NFL deserves some credit for the halftime show, but still needs to do more.
“This is great. And this was a celebration of hip-hop. And it was all of these wonderful Black artists, plus Eminem, doing their thing,” Navarro added. “And we should applaud the NFL for doing that. But you know what, you got to hire some coaches.”