Many football fans in Texas and around the country have heard of NFL coach Brian Flores. He was the head coach for the Miami Dolphins but was fired in January 2022 after three seasons. The team cited “poor collaboration” as the reason, but Flores claims he was terminated for much more nefarious reasons.
Flores says he was asked to throw games
According to Flores, the general manager of the Dolphins offered him financial incentives to lose games so that his team could qualify for a higher draft pick. Flores is also accusing the Dolphins, 28 other NFL teams and the NFL of systemic racism and discrimination against Black coaches and other team personnel.
Class action lawsuit
Flores filed a class action discrimination complaint in federal court, citing 29 NFL teams and the NFL. His complaint alleges that the NFL regularly engages in many different types of racial discrimination including discriminatory hiring and retention practices. He says that, despite a large representation of Black players in the NFL, Black coaches and general managers are few and far between. Among the 32 NFL teams, only one team has a Black head coach.
Other accusations
Flores’ lawsuit covers a lot of issues but paints a general picture of widespread, systemic racism in the NFL. He cites discriminatory treatment of retired NFL players that have suffered from head injuries as well as discriminatory hiring practices. According to Flores, the NFL conducts staged interviews with Black head coach prospects with no intention of actually hiring these people. Flores says that the interviews are only done in order to satisfy an anti-discrimination rule.
Flores’ first season coaching the Dolphins was a losing one. However, the Dolphins achieved their first back-to-back winning seasons since 2003 during the next two years of his coaching. After Flores was fired from the Dolphins, he was turned down for a job coaching the New York Giants after what he called a “sham interview.”