The Brian Flores discrimination case against the NFL explained

With a lawsuit now underway, we thought it pertinent to bring you up to speed on exactly what happened between Brian Flores, the NFL and a trio of teams. Indeed, the former Dolphins coach was the subject of a rather bizarre situation which saw him receive a congratulatory text message for a job he had yet to interview for, only it was sent to the wrong Brian. Since then, a whole lot has come to light. So, with no further ado let’s get into it.

Why did Brian Flores file a lawsuit?

It was back in early February of 2022, when reports indicated that then Miami Dolphins head coach, Brian Flores, had filed a lawsuit against the NFL, the New York Giants, the Denver Broncos and the Miami Dolphins themselves. Speaking about his decision at the time, Flores explained that he went through “a wave of emotions” after finding out that his interview with the Giants was what he referred to as a “sham.” Flores added that he felt “humiliation, disbelief and anger,” before doubling down on the point. “I’ve worked so hard to get to where I am in football, to become a head coach. For 18 years in this league and to go on what felt like, what was a sham interview, I was hurt.” The question of course, was why did he consider it a sham? The answer to that question - we assure you - is definitely puzzling.

Flores proceeded to explain that his interview with the Giants meant nothing, because he discovered three days before it was scheduled, that the job had been given to another coach, Brian Daboll. How did he discover this you ask? Via a congratulatory text message that was sent in error to him by none other than New England Patriots coach, Bill Belichick. Apparently, the Pats boss got the wrong Brian.

What were the details of the lawsuit?

Before we dive in, it’s interesting to note that Flores took a somewhat emotive stance on the situation saying, that he was doing it for his kids i.e., he didn’t want to see them experience what he had to. “If there’s a change, it’ll be worth it,” he stated.

As for the lawsuit itself, Flores alleged that the Giants used his “interview” as a chance to “demonstrate falsely to League Commissioner Roger Goodell and the public at large that it was in compliance with the “Rooney Rule,” which is a rule that was instituted back in 2003 that requires every NFL team to interview at least two external minority candidates for open head coaching positions, before a hire can be made. “It’s hard to do what we’re doing here because, in doing so, you risk doing what you love, which is coaching the game of football. But being a Black coach in the National Football League, you know there’s a little bit of a target on you and you know you have to be better than your counterparts,” said Flores.

What was the response to Brian Flores lawsuit?

As you can imagine, it wasn’t long before responses started to come in with the first being from former Broncos quarterback and current president of the franchise, John Elway. Indeed, the one-time star flatly denied the allegations made by Flores, calling them “false and defamatory.” It should be noted that the Broncos interviewed Flores for the team’s head-coaching job in 2019. That event is part of the basis of Flores’ class-action lawsuit against the four previously mentioned parties. For his part, Flores along with his representatives alleged that Elway and team CEO Joe Ellis “showed up an hour late to the interview. “They looked completely disheveled, and it was obvious that they had been drinking heavily the night before.” They went on to refer to the interview as a “sham” and also stated, “that the Broncos never had any intention to consider him as a legitimate candidate for the job.”

Next up were the Giants, who released a lengthy statement in which they referred to Flores’ account of the situation as false. Interestingly the Giants also drew attention to the idea that his text exchange with Belichick actually took place prior to any interview with Daboll, before stating that the Patriots coach “...does not speak for and has no affiliation with the Giants.” Last but not least, came the Dolphins whose owner, Stephen Ross, held to a similar narrative, referring to Flores’ statements as “false, malicious and defamatory.” It’s worth mentioning that where the Dolphins and Ross are concerned, there was a rather concerning allegation made by Flores who indicated that he was offered $100,000 per loss during the 2019 - his first as head coach - in an attempt to “tank” to strengthen the value of the Dolphins’ draft pick. On a positive note, it wasn’t all bad, in that there were those who came to Flores’ side including Washington Commanders head coach, Ron Rivera, who only had good things to say.

What happens next for Brian Flores?

As we understand it, Flores is seeking unspecified damages, as well as changes to the NFL’s process for hiring and firing candidates in an effort to ensure greater diversity in coaching and leadership roles. The measures proposed include “creating and funding a committee dedicated to sourcing Black investors to take majority ownership stakes in NFL” and ensuring “diversity of decision-making by permitting select Black players and coaches to participate in the interviewing process for” GM and coaching candidates. Additionally, Flores is also seeking to require NFL teams to “reduce to writing the rationale for hiring and termination decisions, including a full explanation of the basis for any subjective influences.”

While it’s not certain how this will all play out, what we can say is that at present, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin is the only Black head coach in the NFL - Flores is now the Vikings DC. Indeed, we recently saw four of the nine coaching vacancies in the league taken by white men. Does this automatically mean that there is systemic racism? No, but it’s certainly begging a question as to why and that’s something Brian Flores seems willing to fight to get an answer on. “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 making the decision to file the class action complaint, I understand that I may be risking coaching the game I love.”