ALAMEDA, Calif. — The NFL said Thursday it will investigate whether the Oakland Raiders violated the “Rooney Rule” when they hired Jon Gruden as coach.

A league spokesman said in a statement that the NFL will “look into this.”

The Fritz Pollard Alliance called for the investigation Wednesday out of concern that the team owner, Mark Davis, came to an agreement with Gruden before the team interviewed any minority candidates, as required by the NFL since 2003.

Davis said Tuesday after the introductory news conference that he believed Gruden was “all in” to take the job during a meeting Dec. 24. Davis fired Jack Del Rio a week later and the team officially hired Gruden on Jan. 6 after the team interviewed two minority candidates.

The Oakland Raiders will host the Seattle Seahawks in the first NFL game at the new London stadium of the English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. The game will be played Oct. 14. Also, the Philadelphia Eagles will play the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans will take on the Los Angeles Chargers in London next October.

THE LIFE and death of New England tight end Aaron Hernandez will be the subject of a one-hour episode of “48 Hours” to be broadcast Jan. 20.

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The CBS program will be told by the best-selling author James Patterson, who is writing a book about Hernandez.

Once one of the top players in the NFL, Hernandez was convicted for the murder of Odin Lloyd, who was dating the sister of Hernandez’s fiancee. Hernandez hanged himself at age 27 in the Massachusetts prison cell where he was serving a life sentence. After his death, he was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which can cause depression and violent mood swings.

Patterson calls it “the most fascinating, complicated and troubling crime story of our times.”

PANTHERS: Carolina interviewed Norv Turner for its offensive coordinator position.

The Panthers fired offensive coordinator Mike Shula and quarterbacks coach Ken Dorsey on Tuesday.


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