Journalist Jim Trotter introduced Wednesday that he has settled his retaliation lawsuit in opposition to the NFL. The previous NFL Community reporter, who’s now employed by The Athletic, launched an announcement in regards to the settlement on social media.
“The NFL and I’ve agreed to resolve my lawsuit,” Trotter stated within the assertion. “I will likely be making a scholarship basis for journalism college students at HBCUs and the NFL has agreed to make a donation in assist thereof. I’m proud to have the chance to assist and assist HBCU college students obtain their objectives and desires, simply as scholarships afforded me these alternatives after I was a pupil at Howard College.”
Trotter named his new basis the Work, Plan, Pray Basis after the late NFL star Junior Seau, who died of suicide in 2012. Trotter coated Seau when he labored for the San Diego Union-Tribune, and says Seau “took me beneath his wing and taught me in regards to the tradition of a locker room and the mindset of an elite skilled athlete.” He defined on the muse’s web site why he selected “Work, Plan, Pray” because the identify.
“Seau was a giving soul who typically ended talking engagements by reminding the viewers to work for at the moment, plan for tomorrow, and pray for the remainder,” Trotter stated. “I may consider no higher strategy to thank him and keep it up his legacy of giving than by amplifying his phrases within the identify of this basis.”
On the muse’s web site, Trotter notes that the shortage of Black voices in sports activities media typically results in distrust of the media, as Black followers do not see anybody representing their life experiences and cultural experiences. The muse’s intention is to get extra Black voices in sports activities journalism and sports activities administration by providing sources, each monetary and in any other case, to assist college students break down the obstacles that stand between them and a university training.
Trotter made headlines in Feb. 2023 when he used the Tremendous Bowl information convention with commissioner Roger Goodell to press Goodell on the shortage of Black executives and information editors in NFL Media, which the NFL owns and operates. (Trotter had requested Goodell an identical query on the earlier yr’s Tremendous Bowl information convention.) A month later, Trotter introduced that he was leaving NFL Community as his contract had not been renewed.
Six months later, in Sept. 2023, Trotter sued the NFL for retaliation, alleging his contract hadn’t been renewed as a result of he publicly questioned Goodell in regards to the NFL’s file of race discrimination and lack of variety. Within the lawsuit, Trotter additionally accused Dallas Cowboys proprietor Jerry Jones and Buffalo Payments proprietor Terry Pegula of creating discriminatory feedback when requested about participant protests and the NFL’s variety efforts. Each Jones and Pegula denied they made these feedback.
