Brian Flores has filed a class action lawsuit against the NFL in which he alleges racial discrimination in its hiring practices; NFL says Flores' claims "are without merit"; Flores also alleges Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 for every loss during the 2019 season
Friday 4 February 2022 10:36, UK
Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores is suing the NFL and three of its teams, alleging racist hiring practises in a potential watershed moment for the league and sport.
Flores has accused teams of "sham" interviews held purely to abide by Rooney Rule regulations, as well as claiming to have been incentivised to lose games during the 2019 season.
The NFL and the three teams in question have denied the claims.
In his class action lawsuit Flores suggested the NFL and team owners conduct business like a "plantation" as well as criticising the league for inadequately tackling racism in regards to the hiring of black coaches and general managers.
The suit, filed on the first day of Black History Month in America, begins with a text message from New England coach Bill Belichick congratulating Flores on getting the Giants job.
Within the text exchange Flores subsequently asks Belichick whether he had meant him or former Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Brian Daboll, at which point Belichick realised his error and informed Flores the Giants were hiring Daboll.
Flores similarly accuses the Broncos of holding a "sham" interview in 2019, claiming then-general manager John Elway and team president/CEO Joe Ellis arrived "completely dishevelled" and an hour late, insisting he was only interviewed by Denver and New York in order to ensure the teams complied with the Rooney Rule.
He continues by claiming Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 for every loss during Miami's 2019 season in order to put the team in an advantageous Draft position, noting that his refusal to agree was a reason for his dismissal at the end of the 2021 season.
The lawsuit also suggests Ross asked Flores to violate league tampering rules by meeting with a 'prominent quarterback' ahead of free agency with the aim of bringing him to the Dolphins, a request Flores refused.
"God has gifted me with a special talent to coach the game of football, but the need for change is bigger than my personal goals," Flores said in a statement released by the law firm representing him. "In making the decision to file the class action complaint today, I understand that I may be risking coaching the game that I love and that has done so much for my family and me. My sincere hope is that by standing up against systemic racism in the NFL, others will join me to ensure that positive change is made for generations to come."
The NFL released a statement in response to Flores' lawsuit, suggesting his allegations are "without merit" and explaining "diversity is core to everything we do".
Statements were also put out by New York Giants, Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins denying the claims, with Dolphins owner Stephen Ross saying he took "great personal exception to these malicious attacks" after being accused of incentivising losses in 2019.
Los Angeles Rams linebacker Von Miller:
"You know, it's a huge responsibility on the players.
"You've got 32 owners but people come to see the players and the majority of the players in this league are Black or African American.
"So it's huge for the players to speak out.
"It's unfortunate about the news that you hear and all the things that have come out of the last few days.
"We're still trying to progress. It's not perfect, but we're still trying to do the right thing.
"For me, I always wanted to do things in football after my career is over with, and that just gives me an extra incentive to become a GM and be in the front office.
"I can change things for the better."
Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio...
"This is something that the NFL has feared for a long time, I think the NFL didn't believe it would actually happen because anyone that files this lawsuit has to be willing to assume the risk that he's trading his career, the balance of it, and Brian Flores is still under the age of 40, for the lawsuit.
"Hopefully he won't be retaliated against, hopefully he will have fair opportunities in the future, he's under consideration to be the coach of the New Orleans Saints for example. But the thinking is if you poke the bear that is the NFL in the eye, you are done just like Colin Kaepernick was five years ago, so that's what makes it so significant.
"The evidence of racial inequality when it comes to coaches and general managers at NFL teams has been hiding in plain sight for decades, but nobody has done anything about it because of the reality you can't come to the table to try unless you're willing to put your career on the line and Brian Flores clearly is.
"That risk could be reduced if other coaches would, not just support him quietly and behind the scenes, but stand with him arm in arm, other black coaches who have been passed over an opportunity or fired under a different standard to what would have applied to a white coach. A guy like Jim Caldwell who had three winning seasons in four years with the Lions, went to the playoffs twice and was fired after a winning season. Other coaches who weren't paid as much as white counterparts.
"There are many different tentacles to this and if there are other coaches who have been aggrieved by this inherently unequal system, if they join forces with Brian Flores it becomes much harder for the NFL to blackball any one of them."
Flores appeared on US television a day after filing his lawsuit against the NFL, telling CBS Mornings "it was a range of emotions. Humiliation, disbelief, anger".
"This game changed my life," he added. "To attack the integrity of the game, that's what I felt was happening in that instance, and I wouldn't stand for it.
"I've worked so hard to get to where I am in football, to become a head coach, for 18 years in the league," he added. "To go on what was gonna be or what felt like or what was a sham interview, I was hurt."
He also reaffirmed the sentiment detailed in his initial statement with regards to willingly putting his career on the line.
"If change comes, and I never coach again, it'll be worth it," he later told ESPN.
Flores' attorney confirmed during an appearance on ESPN that other 'high level coaches' had contacted his team to inform them they had been in a similar situation when it came to hiring policies as well as incentivised defeats.
Former Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson hinted on Twitter that he received bonus payments from Browns owner Jimmy Haslam during the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
Responding to Flores' lawsuit against the NFL, Kimberly Diemert, the executive director of the Hue Jackson Foundation, said Jackson was paid a bonus to lose games during his time in charge, noting "we have records that will help".
Jackson himself added "I stand by Brian Flores, I can back up every word I'm saying".
The Browns replied with the following statement: "The recent comments by Hue Jackson and his representatives relating to his tenure as our head coach are completely fabricated," the Browns said in a statement. "Any accusation that any member of our organization was incentivized to deliberately lose games is categorically false."
Jackson subsequently spoke with SportsCenter and ESPN to clarify his comments, alluding to a four-year plan in which winning was not mentioned until years three and four.
"Well, I need to really explain that because I think people have taken that and run and said, 'Hey, I think you were in on something that happened,'" Jackson said on SportsCenter. "That's not the case.
"What I was trying to make sure people understood is that we were paid for - you're gonna see it as losing - but the way the team was built, there was no chance to win, and win at a high level. You're in a situation where what you have to do is do the best you can. My record that year was 1-15."
The Rooney Rule was introduced in 2003 as a means of ensuring minority coaches would be interviewed for high-level coaching roles around the NFL in the wake of the contentious firings of Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Tony Dungy and Minnesota Vikings head coach Dennis Green. The rule is named after former Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, who was the former chairman of the league's diversity committee.
Dungy had recorded just one losing season in his six years in Tampa, where he made the playoffs each year, while Green was coming off his first losing campaign in 10 years with the team.
In 2020, the NFL amended the Rooney Rule to stipulate teams must interview at least two minority candidates not associated with their own team for a head coaching vacancy. Also, one minority candidate has to be interviewed for coordinator positions as well as high-ranking positions in the front office, including the general-manager role.
"The Rooney Rule is intended to give minorities an opportunity to sit down in front of ownership, but I think what it's turned into is an instance where guys are just checking the box," Flores said.
"That's been the case. I've been on some interviews in the past where I've had that feeling."
There were three African American head coaches at the time the Rooney Rule was established in 2003; as it stands in 2022, the Steelers' Mike Tomlin is the only African American head coach.
At the time Flores' lawsuit was released, only one of the NFL's 32 teams had a black head coach, only four had a black offensive coordinator, 11 a black defensive coordinator, eight a black special teams coordinator, three a black quarterbacks coach and six a black General Manager.
Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera, one of three minority coaches currently in the league alongside Tomlin and the New York Jets' Robert Saleh, said he believed there is "something to look at there" in regards to Flores' lawsuit.
"I really do," said Rivera. "I think what Brian is doing is really brave. I think if we really take a step back and look at it, we would honestly say there are some things we've got to look even deeper into and we've got to make sure we make the right type of changes so that things are inclusive."
The Fritz Pollard Alliance...
"Brian Flores' lawsuit is just the latest, dramatic call to action for the NFL and its team owners. Men and women of color in the NFL community have long known that the odds of advancing in the coaching ranks and in front office are stacked against them. The Fritz Pollard Alliance supports Coach Flores and others in their effort to level the playing field for men and women of color."
Sky Sports NFL's Jeff Reinebold believes that Flores' lawsuit is reflective of a hiring process in the league that "is just not working".
"The system is broken," Reinebold told Sky Sports News. "You know the numbers: we have got one minority head coach in the NFL, one minority owner.
"The NFL has put forward programs trying to aid minority hiring and the bottom line is, it is just not working.
"Mr [Roger] Goodell is going to take the heat for this but, who is the National Football League? In this case it's the 32 owners - they're the ones that do the hiring and the firing.
"What Flores has brought forth is something that I think has been understood for a long time. For him to go and make these allegations public, and to sue the NFL, this has far-reaching ramifications."
Professor Jeremi Duru - who teaches sports law, civil procedure, and employment discrimination at Washington University - also addressed the issue, telling Sky Sports News: "without question, there is inequity at the highest levels of the league - and Brian Flores was tired of it."
Professor Duru added: "The NFL has done a lot of work in this area - the league has implemented relatively strong equal-opportunity diversity initiatives - but it requires the clubs, which are individually owned, to implement those initiatives and they, in my view, have been failing to do so.
"The league, I believe, is trying; the outcomes are not sufficient."
As whether the Rooney Rule was fit for purpose, Professor Duru said: The rule needs to be enforced. That's one place where the league needs to be stronger, so that the clubs recognise that if they violate it, there will be penalties.
"If the league do that, the owners will begin to fall into line. If they don't, we'll see more of this."
Professor Duru said it "would be a surprise" if Flores got another job in the NFL following his lawsuit, with Reinebold also believing it's "probably going to cost him his career".
"I hope not, I hope he has an opportunity," Reinebold added. "If you go by any measuring stick, he deserves to be a head coach in the NFL. For him to not have the opportunity I think is wrong and just doesn't make sense.
"It is going to be interesting to watch this thing unfold. I'm hopeful for the league, for football, the fans, for minority coaches.
"Any time that a problem, especially one involving race and opportunity, is brought to the forefront, the potential there is for good.
"A lot of times that good also comes with pain; there will be some uncomfortable moments for a lot of people through this, but hopefully out the back of it true change will come - and not cosmetic change."
