NFL: Brian Flores sues league, teams for racist hiring practices

Brian Flores, former Miami Dolphins head coach and New England Patriots linebackers and safeties coach, has sued the NFL and three teams for discrimination and racism in the hiring process and for being fired last month. The 58-page, class-action lawsuit was filed on Tuesday, Feb. 1 at Manhattan federal court. Flores was fired by the Dolphins on Jan. 10 after three seasons. Miami went 19-14 over the last two years, recording the franchise's first back to back winning seasons since 2003.

According to the lawsuit, the Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered Flores $100,000 for every loss in order to tank in his first year. Miami general manager Chris Grier told Flores later in the season that Ross was mad the team won. Before getting hired in 2019, Flores also interviewed with the Denver Broncos. He alleges multiple members of the Denver front office showed up to the interview an hour late and appeared hungover, only conducting the interview to abide by the Rooney Rule.

Since the rule was implemented nearly two decades ago, only 11.6% of black coaches that interviewed for a head coaching job went onto get the position. There were three black head coaches in 2003, compared to one right now (with five vacant), despite more than 70% of the players being black. Flores is reportedly still under consideration for the open Houston Texans and New Orleans Saints jobs. According to ESPN, he met with the Saints on Tuesday.

"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. I understand that I may be risking coaching the game that I love and that has done so much for my family and me," Flores said in a statement released by Wigdor Law LLP. "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."

Flores alleges the New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen spoke to him on Jan. 24 to confirm his interview for three days later. However later that day, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick accidentally texted Flores instead of Brian Daboll, congratulating him that the Giants had "their guy." After Flores asked him to clarify, Belichick realized his mistake and texted: "Sorry I fucked this up. I double checked and misread the text. I think they are naming Brian Daboll. I'm sorry about that."

The NFL said in a statement: "Diversity is core to everything we do. We will defend against these claims which are without merit." Meanwhile, the Giants (who have never hired a black head coach) said "Ultimately we hired the individual we felt was the most qualified to be our next coach." The Broncos brass also responded that they will "vigorously defend the integrity and values of our organization and it's employees from such baseless and disparaging claims."

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Photo Credit: SB Nation.