(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Brian Flores, the former head coach of the Miami Dolphins, alleged in a class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday against the National Football League, the Dolphins, the New York Giants and the Denver Broncos, that the league and the teams' hiring practices are so steeped in racism that it cost him jobs.
It's an explosive charge, and Flores's suit cites the NFL's 29 other teams as potential defendants. It also says that 40 other unnamed coaches and general managers may join the class action, opening the door to a legal assault that could turn one of the world's most lucrative sports businesses into a piñata.
Flores, a promising young coach and the son of Honduran immigrants, may be on a long and lonely road. Proving that racism is an indisputable reason for why he hasn't secured another coaching job after mixed results in Miami will be challenging. Although he continues to look for work, he's well aware that he's now put his career at risk.
“In making my 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,” Flores said in a press release. “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 and the teams Flores sued disputed his allegations and said all decisions involving his employment were merit-based. “Diversity is core to everything we do, and there are few issues on which our teams and our internal leadership team spend more time,” the NFL said. “We will defend against these claims, which are without merit.”
No matter how much time the NFL is spending on diversity, almost all of the league's managerial and financial power still remains in the hands of White coaches and owners — a reality in most other private and public institutions across the American landscape as well.
With Flores's departure from Miami, only three other NFL teams have head coaches of color, despite fielding teams that are predominantly Black. The league has existed for about a century and of the 110 people who have had valuable ownership stakes in its teams in all that time, only two weren't White.
Flores's lawsuit, filed on the first day of Black History Month, lands just as the Supreme Court is set to consider affirmative action policies at a pair of prominent colleges. His suit also offers a detailed synopsis of decades of racism on the football field and in the NFL's c-suites and how much effort it took to effect even incremental change.
“The NFL only engaged in genuine full-scale racial integration when it became economically necessary,” the suit notes, crediting “outrage and protests” from writers and fans, as well as pressure from more diverse rival leagues and the success of college athletes of color.
The suit is loaded with details about events Flores asserts show that he and other coaches were sidelined by racism. And the NFL's vaunted “Rooney Rule,” which requires teams to ensure that diverse slates of candidates are considered for general manager and coaching roles, comes across as little more than a fig leaf. Flores alleges that teams interviewed him for jobs simply to check off a box next to the Rooney Rule, after they had already settled on White candidates — a complaint common among other Black coaches, too.
One of Flores's mentors, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, texted him prior to an interview with the Giants to congratulate him on getting the coaching job there. Flores was puzzled by the text, because his interview was still days away. Flores asked Belichick if he was referring to a White candidate, Brian Daboll, who had already interviewed. “I double checked & I misread the text,” Belichick responded. “I think they are naming Daboll. I'm sorry about that.”
Critics of Flores and his lawsuit might take the easy way out, and try dismissing it as whining from a coach using the court system to get even with a business that does an estimable job of screening for talent. That would allow them to ignore how much football's architecture still prevents coaches and owners of color from getting their feet in the door.
After all, the surest path to a head coaching job in the NFL is serving time as an offensive coordinator. But the lion's share of those jobs are also occupied by White coaches. And the surest path to ownership of a team? Well, that's always relied, in part, on affirmative action for White guys.
“It goes back to an old-boys network,” is how one historian described the NFL's ownership structure to the Associated Press. “It's an informal system in which wealthy men, particularly wealthy White men with social and economic backgrounds, help each other out.”
If Flores's lawsuit gets traction, we might start to see what that old-boys network looks and sounds like from the inside.
More From Other Writers at Bloomberg Opinion:
- The NFL's Worst Day, Statistically Speaking: Stephen Carter
- Colleges Bet on Football in Their Own K-Shaped Recovery: Conor Sen
- Jay-Z Has Every Right to Take the NFL's Money: Stephen Carter
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Timothy L. O'Brien is a senior columnist for Bloomberg Opinion.
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.
