NFL Hit With Class-Action Racial Discrimination Suit From Ex-Miami Dolphin Coach Brian Flores, Who Cites Bill Belichick Texts In Complaint
Brian Flores, the former coach of the Miami Dolphins, has filed a racial discrimination lawsuit during what should be the game’s high point in the runup to the Super Bowl.The complaint (read it HERE) is a proposed class-action case naming the league as well as the Dolphins, New York Giants and Denver Broncos as defendants.
After Flores was fired at the end of the season, despite a winning record with Miami, he was considered for numerous head coaching vacancies.
He had a 24-25 record in three seasons with the Dolphins and his dismissal came as a surprise even to many football insiders.Flores alleges that his participation in those job interviews was a sham engineered as part of the NFL’s “Rooney Rule.” Named for the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the rule came into effect nearly 20 years ago as an effort to ensure that more minority candidates get hired as NFL head coaches.
Despite the rule, however, a league whose player rosters are more than three-quarters Black has just one Black head coach, Mike Tomlin of Pittsburgh.The complaint leads with a sensational piece of evidence: a text message sent by New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. (Flores once served as defensive coordinator of the Patriots and, as coaches do, continued to network with his former boss and other coaches.) Mistakenly thinking he was texting with newly named Giants head coach Brian Daboll, Belichick wrote that he thought the coach had a good chance to get the job.
