Yesterday, Brian Flores rocked the NFL world by filing a lawsuit claiming the NFL has discriminatory hiring practices. There is a TON to unpack here, and I am not the most qualified to break it down. With that said, I am still an NFL fan, and I write about the NFL, so I am as entitled as anyone to have an opinion and to look at what’s happening. I am sure people reading this (and not reading it) will also have some pretty strong feelings. In fact, social media is flooded with them right now. My focus is to strip away a lot of the hyperbole I am reading and go straight at the reality. I am going to look at a number of different facets here, from the suit itself, to the fallout, to the teams involved, and to Brian Flores himself.
Brian Flores: This is probably it for Brian Flores’ NFL coaching career. If you thought the NFL blackballed Colin Kaepernick, wait till you see the blackballing Flores gets. He knows this is probably it, and has said so. It’s a shame in that regard, because Flores WAS a very good defensive coach. The Patriots and Dolphins were both very clever schematically during his time there. He has said he feels that his role in this lawsuit is more important to than that future. He also referred to himself as gifted by God to coach football, so it’s clear he is not lacking in his high regard for himself in this decision. It’s also worth noting his own actions when a player on his own team stood up to his owner, Stephen Ross, and challenged his actions.
The case itself: Brian is claiming the NFL as a whole has discriminatory hiring practices. He cites statistics showing the dearth of black people in a number of roles in the NFL. These statistics speak for themselves. In a leagues where 70 percent of the players are black, only a small fraction of the post playing career roles go to black people. This in and of itself wouldn’t win a lawsuit however, it is really just context. He claims, with evidence, that his interview with the NY Giants took place after the team had already made a decision on a head coach, just to fill a Rooney Rule requirement. He also reports on a similar situation that he claims took place in Denver. The most interesting aspect of the case to me is that it has the potential to be a class action case. This means that other coaches with similar experience may choose to get involved. That could open the door to a lot of dirty laundry the NFL does not want exposed.
Brian Flores and the Miami Dolphins: This section gets it’s own bullet point because there is a lot going on. He claims (without evidence… so far) that the owner of the Miami Dolphins, Stephen Ross, offered to pay him to lose games in the 2019 season. He claims to have declined this offer. He says the owner was angry that the team won so many games and cost itself the draft position. He also claims (again without evidence… so far) that the team wanted him to violate anti-tampering rules to meet with Tom Brady that following offseason and he also refused. He indicates that after that happened the team leadership ostracized him and mistreated him. This aspect of the lawsuit has a number of logical hurdles to climb. First, the lack of any evidence is a concern. One assumes that since he provided evidence of the situation with the Giants, he would have done the same with the Dolphins if he did. Second, the idea that the team was angry it won too many games and didn’t get who they wanted belies the reality that, until Tua Tagovailoa hurt his hip, he was clearly the player they were targeting at number one overall, and it’s still the player they ended up getting. Third, it ignores the reality that the Dolphins were never seriously in the running for Tom Brady, and everyone, including the Dolphins team, knew it. Fourth, the major logical hurdle is that even if they really were angry at Flores, why did they then wait 2 years to fire him. The Texans just fired David Culley after one year for no real reason. This makes no sense. Fifth, there is also no racial component to any of this. It’s all competitive balance talk. He claims to have been hit with the “Angry Black Man” stereotype, but this is a huge leap. This part of the lawsuit feels more like grinding an axe on an ex-employer.
The Miami Dolphins: While I question the relevance of Brian Flores’ claims to his case, the damage of those claims is still done. While I don’t see much in the tampering claims (what are you going to do about tampering that “almost” happened), the Dolphins will have to answer questions about that 2019 season. If it’s found to be true in any way that the team was intentionally losing games or incentivizing players or coaches to lose games it will be a massive black eye for football. With gambling becoming legalized, and the sport partnering with gambling companies, the idea that the outcome of games is being intentionally compromised would likely lead to a criminal investigation the NFL does not want. We have already seen questionable games in recent years with the Jets (the strange decision to blitz everyone and give up a touchdown) and the Eagles (the strange decision to bench a more effective starting QB for one that was not qualified). The NFL cannot afford this controversy. The good news for the Dolphins is, I highly doubt there is anything on record about this, and if Flores refused, then there is no evidence it occurred, since it didn’t.
The NY Giants: The Giants are the one’s in the most danger here, because there is actual evidence. There is no doubt Bill Belichick will end up being interviewed in the process, and what he knew, when he knew it, and who told him will be very significant. If it can be proven that the Rooney Rule interview with Flores was a sham, the Giants will face significant consequences and it will go a long way toward giving Brian a victory in the courtroom. However, if all he has is the confused text of an old man on his flip phone, then it is unlikely there will be any consequences. Still, this one bears scrutiny because it seems like the claim most likely to be verifiable.
The Denver Broncos: Flores’ accusation against the Broncos seems very generic and unlikely to be substantiated. Unless he can show they were actually an hour late, and actually hungover, his opinion on their professional appearance won’t hold up in court, and won’t lead to any discipline. Barring further revelations, I don’t see this one going anywhere.
The NFL: The NFL’s response, seen above, is interesting. It shows they have no interest in verifying any of his claims regarding his experiences with either three teams. They do not plan to look internally at all. My guess is that the bombshell nature of these accusations have put them fully on the defensive, and they are going to deny all regardless of the reality of it, then try to make changes to address them (if true) later after the dust settles, in a quiet manner. There have long been complaints about sham interviews stemming from the Rooney rule, and this is where thing could get very interesting. If others come forward with similar stories, the NFL’s hiring practices as a whole could face a major legal challenge. I have read a lot of people’s opinions who don’t understand why teams can’t just get the person they want regardless of anything else. The reason is the law. Teams have shown they will almost always hire white candidates over black ones regardless of qualifications. This became such a problem, the Rooney Rule was created to protect teams from the impression they weren’t considering black candidates. The problem is, the rule doesn’t seem to have changed much, other than to create a false sense that owners were considering black candidates before passing on them. If it turns out that the owners were actually doing that, that opens them up to this kind of lawsuit. Whether you think owners should just be allowed to hire whoever they want or not, they are held to the same standard as any employer and that means a fair, open interview process where race is not a factor.
The next steps: Discovery will be a critical part of this case. What information can Flores find to support his claims? At the moment, we have his word, and a botched text message. That isn’t much to go on. What evidence will he find of his claims? Will anyone else join the lawsuit and present their own evidence? Will the NFL ownership/GMs/coaches have any cracks in the façade to show us weakness and acknowledgement. The NFL itself seems to understand the Rooney rule wasn’t doing it’s job, since they just revamped it two season ago. Will they revamp it further? With at least one team up for sale, will the NFL pursue a minority ownership group? This lawsuit created a lot more questions than answers.
Well done my friend!