Thomas Pitney
Sports Editor
According to ESPN.com, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL on Tuesday, Feb. 1. In the suit, as described by ESPN.com, Flores alleged discrimination in the hiring and firing processes of the Miami Dolphins, New York Giants and Denver Broncos. Flores made several damning claims. First, that in 2019, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered Flores $100,000 for every loss and that, when Flores rejected this offer, he was alienated from the Dolphins organization. Second, that the New York Giants had allegedly already decided to hire Brian Daboll — who is white — prior to Flores’ interview with the team. Flores used a series of text messages that he received from Patriots head coach Bill Belichick — who mistakenly believed he was texting Daboll to congratulate him for receiving the Giants’ head coaching job — before his interview with the Giants to back up his claim. Finally, Flores alleged that he had a humiliating experience while interviewing for the Denver Broncos’ head coaching position in 2019. According to Flores, the Broncos’ ownership team arrived one hour late to the meeting and appeared hungover during the meeting.
Unfortunately, these allegations — if true — are shocking, but not surprising. Throughout its history, the NFL has been marked by racism. “USA Today” highlighted that between 1934 and 1945, NFL teams refused to sign or draft any Black player. Furthermore, according to “USA Today,” both the then-Washington Redskins and Los Angeles Rams only integrated after their respective cities threatened to revoke the teams’ rights to their stadiums if they did not integrate.
The blatant racism did not end when the NFL integrated. According to “The Undefeated”, many Black players did not receive fair opportunities because of the overwhelming stereotype that Black players could not play “positions of intelligence:” center, middle linebacker, safety and quarterback. Warren Moon is a perfect example of this phenomenon. A feature from “The Undefeated” revealed that because Moon was Black, NFL scouts and coaches believed he was not smart enough to play quarterback and implored him to change positions. Moon rejected these suggestions and, since he did not receive an opportunity to play quarterback in the NFL, played in and dominated the Canadian Football League, winning several championships and setting many records. Once the Houston Oilers gave Moon a shot, he proved his racist doubters wrong by setting league passing records in 1990 and 1991 and by being enshrined as a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
These damaging and inaccurate stereotypes have leaked into the hiring of the head coach, the ultimate “position of intelligence.” Flores, who won eight of his last nine games in Miami this season, Eric Bieniemy, Todd Bowles, Byron Leftwich and Aaron Glenn — all Black coaches — are arguably the most qualified head coaching candidates this hiring cycle. Any organization committed to hiring the most qualified candidate and winning football games should certainly consider all these terrific candidates for their head coaching positions. Despite possibly the highest number of experienced, qualified Black head coaching candidates on the market, only one opening was filled by a Black coach.
Understanding this ugly history, did the NFL’s owners acknowledge that perhaps, the reason that there are currently only two Black head coaches — Mike Tomlin and Lovie Smith — could be systematic racism? Of course not. According to “USA Today,” the NFL released the following statement just hours after the news broke that Flores was filing suit: “the NFL and our clubs are deeply committed to ensuring equitable employment practices and continue to make progress in providing equitable opportunities throughout our organizations. Diversity is core to everything we do, and there are few issues on which our clubs and our internal leadership team spend more time. We will defend against these claims, which are without merit.” Given that the lawsuit was filed hours earlier and that within those few hours, the NFL did not conduct an investigation, how does the NFL know that Flores’ claims “are without merit?” In addition, according to ESPN.com, the Denver Broncos released a statement calling Flores’ claims “disparaging and baseless.” These actions indicate that the NFL intends to fight against Flores, which will greatly damage the league’s credibility on issues of equity if Flores’ allegations are proven true.
The NFL must be on the right side of history. Because commissioner Roger Goodell works for the NFL owners, he unfortunately cannot mandate change. However, there are still some important steps he can take. First, the NFL must immediately call for a transparent and independent investigation of racist hiring and firing practices by every team in the league. Any team that shows racial bias in its hiring and firing practices should be fully punished under league rules. Second, the NFL can review and change the Rooney Rule, which, as explained by CNN.com, requires all NFL teams to interview two candidates of color before hiring a head coach. Although this was intended to give coaches of color a better opportunity to receive a head coaching position, Belichick’s texts revealed that many organizations, like the Giants, follow the Rooney Rule’s requirements without truly considering the candidate whom they are interviewing.
Fortunately, Goodell appears to have taken positive steps on both these fronts. As reported by CNN.com, Goodell sent a message to all NFL teams on Saturday, Feb. 5 calling the lack of hiring of Black coaches “unacceptable.” Furthermore, CNN.com also revealed that Goodell met with civil rights leaders on Monday, Feb. 7 to discuss how the NFL can improve equity in the coach hiring process.
Ultimately, however, since Goodell cannot tell the NFL’s team owners who to hire, the ball remains in the court of these 32 owners. No matter what Goodell does, nothing will change unless the NFL’s owners make a real commitment to equity. They have the power to do what is wrong, but also what is right. What Flores and NFL fans are demanding is simple: hire the most qualified candidate, regardless of background, race, sexuality or social class. Since more than 70% of the players are Black according to “USA Today,” hiring the most qualified candidate would logically result in over half of the coaches being Black. If NFL ownership becomes colorblind in its hiring and firing processes, many more Black coaches will receive opportunities. Regardless of whether 100% of Flores’ claims are true, I wholeheartedly agree with his mission to promote change in the NFL so the league can live up to the motto it so often markets: “end racism.”