It took four years and a worldwide uprising against racism for the NFL to acknowledge that it mishandled Colin Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the national anthem.
The former standout quarterback never played again following his 2016 actions to bring awareness to racial injustice, despite being eminently more qualified than the majority of signal-callers on active rosters.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said publicly in June of 2020, near the height of the protests following the death of George Floyd, that the league erred in its response.
“We, the National Football League, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier, and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest,” Goodell said then.
Well, here we are again. Former Dolphins coach Brian Flores filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, alleging racial discrimination within the league’s hiring practices, and the response by Goodell and the league owners is going to be telling.
Former Miami HC Brian Flores is suing the NFL, the Giants, the Dolphins and the Broncos for alleged “racism in hiring”, and he includes texts from Patriots’ HC Bill Belichick in the suit as evidence. Lawsuit filed in Manhattan Federal Court seeking unspecified damages from NFL.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 1, 2022
Will someone stand up and immediately acknowledge that implicit bias still exists, or will Flores receive the same treatment as Kaepernick?
The league is off to a bad start, sending out a statement that claims the allegations are “without merit” mere hours after the lawsuit was made public.
Flores fully acknowledged what could be coming – that the decision to sue could end his coaching career in the NFL like Kaepernick’s decision ultimately ended his playing days.
“In making the decision to file the class action complaint, I understand that I may be risking coaching the game I love and has done so much for my family and me,” Flores said. “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 need for change is bigger than my personal goals.”
Message I got from Brian Flores and His team About this lawsuit: “It was time to stop being quiet about the injustices that are happening. This was long overdue. There’s plenty of racism that need to be exposed.”
— Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) February 1, 2022
Maybe there has been incremental progress in the push for racial equality in the NFL, but there is little doubt systemic bias still exists in the NFL’s hiring practices, and the lack of diversity at the top likely contributes.
Flores is, quite clearly, one of the more impressive coaching minds in the league. His Dolphins teams were well-prepared and often competitive despite the fact that quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has thus far shown to be a below-average quarterback.
If he doesn’t end up with a head coaching job at the end of this cycle, it will show that the NFL owners and Goodell caved to public demand when acknowledging Kaepernick’s plight, but weren’t truly interested in confronting unconscious bias within the league.
Can not tell you over the years how many black coaches took interviews, knowing they weren’t getting HC jobs but were encouraged to for the experience. The amount of texts and convos I have had this coaching cycle, with black coaches equate to this: “How’s that working out?” 😐
— Steve Wyche (@wyche89) February 1, 2022
It’s going to be easy for every team with a head coaching opening to select someone other than Flores. We saw it all the time with Kaepernick, as each team gave inane reasons for choosing a less-qualified backup and then quickly tried to change the subject.
The Rooney Rule, which makes teams interview two external minority candidates, may be well-intentioned, but the end-goal is not for minority candidates to interview. It’s for them to have a truly fair shake at head coaching and GM opportunities.
The commissioner and the NFL owners can claim to be listening and can claim to be making progress. But if Flores, a brilliant mind who dared speak out against an unfair system, doesn’t have a prominent NFL job next year, it will be Kaepernick 2.0.
And we can all look forward to the acknowledgment of fault in 2026.
