NFL, after extensive afternoon’s non-investigation, is happy to conclude that everything is just fine
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Simon has already discussed the remarkable and courageous lawsuit Brian Flores has brought against the NFL and several teams. The NFL is taking this about as seriously as you’d expect:
How, exactly, could the NFL know the claims by Flores are “without merit” two hours after the suit emerged? https://t.co/tic1LAXo8t— Peter King (@peter_king) February 1, 2022
It’s really worth seeing the accidental text exchange with Belichick in full:
Former #Dolphins HC Brian Flores is suing the NFL and the Giants alleging racism in their hiring process. Flores has texts from Bill Belichick congratulating him for getting the job — but Flores had yet to interview. The text was meant for Brian Daboll. https://t.co/gmPUw9gHIq pic.twitter.com/tyTztTf3br— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) February 1, 2022
Or how about this allegation from the suit:
However, the Broncos’ then-General Manager, John Elway, President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Ellis and others, showed up an hour late to the interview. They looked completely disheveled, and it was obvious that they had drinking heavily the night before. It was clear from the substance of the interview that Mr. Flores was interviewed only because of the Rooney Rule, and that the Broncos never had any intention to consider him as a legitimate candidate for the job. Shortly thereafter, Vic Fangio, a white man, was hired to be the Head Coach of the Broncos.
Elway: MAGA all the way!
The systematic evidence is also damning:
The Flores lawsuit notes that four of the 17 Black head coaches in NFL history have been fired after a winning season (23.5%). Only 6.9% of white coaches have been fired after a winning season.
“Black Head Coaches are 3.5 times more likely to be fired even when successful.” pic.twitter.com/T89suBE8Ui— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) February 1, 2022
Consider for example Jim Caldwell, who after winning a Super Bowl as the OC with Joe Flacco at QB (!), proceeded to go 36-28 with the hapless Lions, who then went 13-29-1 with Generic Belichick Assistant Du Jour. He still does not have a head coaching job.
The other remarkable thing about the suit is that Stephen Ross apparently offered Flores $100K per loss in his rookie season. I’ll have a separate post about the tanking aspect, which also appalling in itself, but it seems clear that Ross wanted to satisfy the league by hiring someone who he and Ilya Shaipro would consider a “lesser” candidate, and wasn’t prepared for him to be good, and wasn’t committed to his success. We can see something similar with Dave Culley, who was given an insulting 2-year contract, and yet put a surprisingly competitive team on the field, going 4-13 with -1-18 talent and getting better results from Davis Mills than the Jags got from Trevor Lawrence. He got fired anyway, because the team never expected or even wanted him to succeed.
Given the composition of the federal courts, the NFL may escape direct financial consequences for this, but without merit it ain’t.
More bald guys than Black guys. https://t.co/P2UYUJquV5— Sherri Nichols (@SherriMNichols) February 1, 2022
Worth noting that the one remaining Black coach has a Super Bowl ring in two appearances, is 154-85-2, and this year made the playoffs with a QB who could barely walk or throw a football five yards. If he was 85% as good he’d probably be a DC in the Mountain West conference or something.