Ex-NFL Network reporter Jim Trotter's latest honor comes with a determined cause

When Jim Trotter receives the Bill Nunn Jr. Award this summer to commemorate his longtime contributions as a journalist covering the NFL, it would be quite the optic if somehow the hardware is presented by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Imagine the tension. It might strike resemblance to the times during the 1970s and ‘80s when Pete Rozelle handed the Lombardi Trophy to renegade Raiders owner Al Davis. Or when Goodell gave the prize to Robert Kraft in early 2017 after the Patriots capped a Super Bowl season that began with Tom Brady’s four-game suspension for his alleged role in the Deflategate scandal.

Goodell surely will be in close proximity when Trotter receives his plaque at the Gold Jacket dinner during the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s enshrinement weekend at Canton, Ohio. Both are expected to be seated at the head table.

Remember when they were in the same space in February during the week of Super Bowl 57? Trotter, then a columnist for NFL.com and NFL Network, put the Commissioner on full blast during a news conference, grilling Goodell about the fact that there wasn’t a single Black person working full-time on the news desk – the behind-the-scenes operation that doesn’t include reporters, anchors and panelists – at the league-owned TV network.

A few weeks later, Trotter was out of a job after his NFL contract wasn’t renewed – which he maintains might have been retaliation for his questioning of Goodell in an open forum.

“What people don’t know is that I have been raising the issue internally, really, since I got to the Network in 2018,” Trotter, who landed as an NFL columnist for The Athletic, told USA TODAY Sports, "and more specifically over the past two years that I was there. I was raising it to management; I brought it up in various settings internally. So, when you feel like you’re not being heard internally, then the next step is that you have an opportunity to address the Commissioner.

“I felt like it was important to do that. Because here’s the thing: It’s too important of an issue. When you have a player population that is 60-70% Black and you don’t have one Black manager in the newsroom, you don’t have one Black employee on the news desk, you are doing a disservice to the player population that you cover. Because there is no one at that decision-making table that shares their cultural experiences or life experiences, to represent their point of view.”

No, the NFL’s media operation hardly operates with the standards of traditional, independent news organizations. That much is rather evident if you compare the lack of speed and depth to reporting unflattering news involving NFL owners (such as Arizona’s Michael Bidwill recently) to the attention afforded by NFL Network shows to developments involving players. Trotter surely knows that. But he also refuses to give the league a pass when he believes the diversity issues on the NFL Media news desk don’t square with the core principles the NFL espouses.

And Trotter isn’t the only one questioning the NFL’s efforts in this regard. The National Association of Black Journalists issued a scathing statement in early May, slamming NFL Media for lacking a single Black manager or full-time employee on its news desk. The NABJ also maintained that NFL Films had only one Black woman among 200 staff members.

“We are disappointed but even more committed to keeping this issue at the forefront,” NABJ president Dorothy Tucker said in the statement.

The NABJ also contended that during a Zoom conference that included at least two NFL executive vice presidents – Dasha Smith and Hans Schroeder – that the league fell short in providing specifics about its diversity plans for NFL Media.

What a bad look for the NFL. A league that is already dogged by its sorry track record for hiring Black coaches for top jobs now has another spotlight of scrutiny on its media arm – while coincidentally investigations were recently launched by attorneys general in California and New York looking into workplace discrimination within the league.

It doesn’t help that the league – estimated to have eliminated more than 100 jobs at NFL Media over the past three years – seems defensive, if not evasive, in publicly addressing the questions. During the recent NFL meetings in Minnesota, Smith would not comment on the matter. And there was no follow-up response to an in-person request by USA TODAY Sports to NFL spokesman Alex Riethmiller to speak to Schroeder at the meetings.

As Trotter described his experiences on the inside, a lack of access to key leaders fueled his frustration.

Riethmiller previously contended to USA TODAY Sports that “we are proud of the progress we have made” and stated that the three most recent senior hires with NFL Media were people of color. The four most recent talent hires were “diverse” reporters, while Steve Wyche and Judy Battista were promoted to the most senior positions as chief reporter and senior columnist, respectively.

But Trotter, 59, has done much to force a closer look at the hiring practices of NFL Media. He acknowledges that he realized by going public, he risked his job.

"You have to make a decision,” Trotter said. “For me, it’s at a point in my career, a point in my life, where you start to ask yourself, ‘What is your purpose? What impact have you had?’ ”

His peers have certainly noticed. Sure, Goodell was easy to publicly target. The Commissioner’s legacy seems destined to be stained by fumbles on race-related issues – including the lack of support for the apparently blackballed Colin Kaepernick and the Black coaches issues that have mushroomed into the lawsuit led by Brian Flores.

Nonetheless, Trotter’s courage in confronting Goodell – a year after he raised the same issue in a similar forum during the week of Super Bowl 56 – can’t be taken for granted. And it was undoubtedly a factor in him being chosen to receive the Nunn Award this year as a first-time finalist in balloting by the Pro Football Writers of America. Ousted by the NFL, Trotter emerged as a martyr.

The honor, though, goes deeper than the action of putting heat on his former employer. Widely respected in the industry, Trotter, who grew up in the Bay Area and Stockton, California, and attended Howard University, has had stints with ESPN, Sports Illustrated and the San Diego Union-Tribune while covering the league for more than three decades. He’s a former president of the PFWA and is a member of the Hall of Fame selection committee.

And now he is to be celebrated as a journalist with a cause.

“When I first got in the (profession), I didn’t see many of us,” Trotter said. “And there weren’t many of us, in terms of our sports department. So, that’s kind of what I’ve been fighting for, trying to make a difference in that way, particularly after we saw the way the Colin Kaepernick situation covered. To say we are in a position to make a difference, that it’s imperative that we step up and meet that challenge if we can.”

It’s a statement that Trotter makes with his words and his actions.

Follow USA TODAY Sports' Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ex-NFL Network reporter Jim Trotter doesn't regret grilling Goodell