Brian Flores’ Anti-Racism Lawsuit Against the NFL Is Just the Start

Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores is suing the NFL and three of its teams, exposing what critics have long argued: there’s an old boy network (of white men) undercutting the league’s publicized efforts to consider and hire diverse candidates. Flores was fired in January after consecutive winning seasons with the Dolphins. Up for a new job leading the New York Giants, he got a text message from Bill Belichick, in which the Patriots head coach appeared to unwittingly reveal that the gig with the Giants was in fact already spoken for, even though Flores was soon to go in for an interview. In this instance, it seems the Giants were just meeting with Flores — who is Afro Latino — to fulfill the Rooney Rule, whereby NFL recruiters must interview minority candidates for open positions. Currently, only one of the NFL’s 32 head coaches is Black, in a league where three in four players are people of color. Flores’ suit also alleges he was bribed to throw games in Miami, which Dolphins owner Stephen Ross denies. LZ and Will argue that this scandal has only just begun. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is sure to face questions from the news media at his next press conference, and more minority candidates may step forward to share their experiences. It won’t be pretty.