Jim Trotter Biography
Jim Trotter is a national columnist for The Athletic and former NFL writer and reporter. He is a Pro Football Hall of Fame voter and a former president of Pro Football Writers of America. In September 2023, he filed a retaliation lawsuit against NFL and the NFL Network. He alleges that his contract was not renewed because, in part, he challenged NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and others in the league regarding the NFL’s lack of diversity at the league office.
He began his career as a sportswriter for The San Diego Union Tribune in 1989 serving for 18 years until 2007. He also was a NFL contributor for NBC Universal for two years (2006 – 2008). In 2007, after leaving The San Diego Union-Tribune, he joined Sports Illustrated as a senior writer, a position he held until March 2014 when he was hired by ESPN as an NFL Reporter.
He has also authored two books including Junior Seau: The Life and Death of a Football Icon (2015) which is about the late Pro Football Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau.
Jim Trotter Age
Trotter is 60 years old, he was born in 1963 in Bay Area, San Francisco, USA.
Jim Trotter Education
Jim graduated from Howard University in 1986 with a degree in communications.
Did Jim Trotter Play Football
Trotter has never played football. He is just a football journalist with a passion in football but not a former football player.
Jim Trotter Wife and Children
Jim is married to Alicia Trotter. The couple have two daughters Tara and Taylor Trotter. Despite Jim being a media personality and a public figure his family keeps out of the limelight.
Jim Trotter NFL Network
Jim is a former NFL Media reporter. He contributed to NFL Network and NFL.com in a multitude of roles. He joined the company in April 2018 until his termination in 2023. While there he was a consistent advocate for minority players, media professionals, and HBCUs. He even questioned Roger Goodell twice about the issue of the league’s lack of diversity among head coaches and team executives.
Jim has filed a retaliation lawsuit claiming that he was terminated because he “challenged Commissioner Roger Goodell and others regarding the NFL’s record of race discrimination and lack of diversity.”
The NFL however released a statement claiming that his contract was not renewed as a result of business decisions made to address “a challenging economy and a changing media environment.”
Goodell in addition released a statement admitting that they know the importance of progress in diversity and were working on it.
“They are very important issues and we share the same concern. We want to make sure our workplaces are first-class. That means opportunities for everybody. We know the importance of progress in diversity. We are working very hard at it. Is progress when we want it to be? No. It is slower that we want it to be, but I am confident we are moving in the right direction.”
Jim Trotter Lawsuit
On September 12, 2023 Trotter filed a retaliation lawsuit against the NFL and the NFL Network. He claims that his contract was not renewed because, in part, he challenged NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and others in the league regarding the NFL’s lack of diversity at the league office. He is seeking unspecified damages and called for a “full-scale investigation into the discriminatory and/or retaliatory animus of all persons in position of power within the NFL, including the NFL team owners.”
In the Lawsuit, he claims that Sandra Nunez, an NFL vice president of talent management, told his agent last November that she “could not envision any reason why (Trotter’s) contract would not be renewed.” The following February, at Goodell’s annual Super Bowl press conference, Trotter publicly challenged Goodell about the league’s efforts around diversity, equity and inclusion, just as he had one year before at the same event. The next day, the complaint alleges, Trotter’s direct supervisor asked one of his colleagues, “Why does Jim keep bringing this up?”
On March 1, he was asked if he was “in alignment” with the NFL. Trotter replied that he was “not in alignment with a newsroom that does not have Black representation in decision-making positions.” Over the ensuing days, Trotter alleges he reported to Nunez that he was not being given assignments. On March 24, Nunez informed Trotter’s agent that his contract would not be renewed.
Jim Trotter Terry Pegula
Trotter in his lawsuit claims that Terry Pegula, Buffalo Bills owner, made a racist comment to a fellow unnamed NFL Media reporter while speaking about the NFL’s social justice initiatives and Black Lives Matter. Pegula allegedly said, “If the Black players don’t like it here, they should go back to Africa and see how bad it is.”
Trotter claims in the lawsuit that he asked the NFL Media executives to investigate Pegula’s comments, which were “highly offensive and racist,” but that he was “repeatedly brushed off and told that ‘the league office is investigating it.'”
Pegula has since released a statement denying the allegation. He said, “The statement attributed to me in Mr. Trotter’s complaint is absolutely false. I am horrified that anyone would connect me to an allegation of this kind. Racism has no place in our society and I am personally disgusted that my name is associated with this complaint.”
Jim Trotter Jerry Jones
In the lawsuits, he also claims that Jerry Jones, owner of Dallas Cowboy, allegedly told him in 2020 that “If Blacks feel some kind of way, they should buy their own team and hire who they want to hire.”
The comment was allegedly made during a conversation with Cowboys executive Will McClay, who is Black, and Trotter about “why teams have so few Black decision-makers.” Jones suggested that they “should ‘agree to disagree’ about the NFL’s issues with race.”
Jerry Jones released a statement and said the allegations were not ‘accurate’. “Diversity and inclusion are extremely important to me personally and to the NFL. The representation made by Jim Trotter of a conversation that occured over three years ago with myself and our VP of Player Personnel Will McClay is simply not accurate.”
Jim Trotter Net worth
Jim has an estimated net worth of $3 million.