Reporter who slammed NFL Network’s lack of diversity announces retirement after settling retaliation lawsuit
Jim Trotter, the former NFL media reporter who sued the league for retaliation, has announced his retirement.
Trotter made the announcement on his BlueSky account, saying: “There’s no better way to spend the first full day of retirement.”
Throughout his long journalistic career – dating back to 1989 – Trotter was known for asking serious questions and tackling serious issues within the game.
That included perhaps his most famous interaction in 2023 when Trotter — who was employed by NFL Media — asked Commissioner Roger Goodell about the lack of diversity within his own newsroom during a press conference before the Super Bowl.
Trotter saw his contract expire about six weeks after he asked that question.
That led to the reporter filing a lawsuit claiming the league racially discriminated against him and retaliated against him for asking the question.
Former NFL Media reporter Jim Trotter appears to have announced his retirement
Trotter asked commissioner Roger Goodell about the racial makeup of the NFL newsroom. He subsequently filed suit against the league for racial discrimination when his contract expired.
In the lawsuit, Trotter alleged that his contract was not renewed because of the question he asked — and that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula made racist comments to him, which he was told not to report.
Trotter announced months ago that he had reached a settlement with the NFL put an end to his lawsuit. The NFL denied Trotter’s allegations.
Trotter began his sports media career in 1989 with the San Diego Tribune-Union. In addition to the NFL Network, he spent time at ESPN, Sports Illustrated and most recently The Athletic.
The last piece he published for the outlet came back on December 6 and was a column about San Francisco 49ers defensive back Nick Bosa, who crashed a post-game interview while wearing a hat in support of Donald Trump.
Trotter went public and said the site’s editors had “watered down” that column, adding, “I was not allowed, IMO, to properly contextualize the meaning and implications of the moment because I was told I would be in conflict are with the [New York Times’] journalistic standards in sports and politics.’
He then clarified that the directive was issued by The Athletic and not the New York Times (the sports retailer’s parent company).