NFL claims “Diversity is core to everything we do,” says Brian Flores’ claims are without merit

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The NFL released a statement claiming to be committed to diversity, sharply disagreeing with the allegations of racist hiring practices laid out in Brian Flores’ lawsuit.

The league released a statement on Tuesday afternoon, shortly after Flores filed his suit.

​”The NFL and our clubs are deeply committed to ensuring equitable employment practices and continue to make progress in providing equitable opportunities throughout our organizations,” the league’s statement said. “Diversity is core to everything we do, and there are few issues on which our clubs and our internal leadership team spend more time. We will defend against these claims, which are without merit.”

Flores’ bombshell lawsuit makes serious allegations against his former employer, the Dolphins, and owner Stephen Ross. The suit also claims that both the Broncos and the Giants scheduled sham head-coaching interviews with Flores, making a mockery of the Rooney Rule.

The filing from Flores indicates that he expects other coaches to join his class-action suit, with claims against more teams beyond the Dolphins, Giants and Broncos.

77 responses to “NFL claims “Diversity is core to everything we do,” says Brian Flores’ claims are without merit

  1. LOL

    I am sure Brian loves being called a liar.

    Hey, Roger, what about Ross trying to throw games? Hmmm? Have you called Ross to detect if he’s a liar or are you pretending this will go quietly as well?

    Your move, Roger.

    Ross firing a coach for not cheating is quite a story, don’t ya think, Roger?

    They could have drafted Mac Jones, too. LOL!

  2. There is one flaw in Flores lawsuit against the Giants – they had already interviewed Leslie Frazier twice before they interviewed Flores, so his interview wasn’t required to meet the Rooney Rule requirements.

  3. I 100% believe everything Brian Flores is saying. Why would he make this stuff up. For the NFL to not take these allegations seriously is to protect there owners,

  4. Can’t wait to see this diversity they speak of. There’s one black coach in a league that’s 75 percent black. Good enough to execute the Xs and Os but not good enough to call the shots? Something here has been awry for a very long time. Thank you, Mr. Flores

  5. People will disagree with me but this lawsuit will only discourage owners from hiring more minorities. Some owners will be worried will I get sued if I hire a minority and fire him down the road.

  6. It’s a class action suit isn’t it? So who are the other coaches who will join?

    Imagine that this lawsuit will end Flores’ career as an NFL coach, no?

  7. Tell me you don’t want to coach in the NFL anymore without telling me you don’t want to coach in the NFL anymore…

  8. Pretty sure owners would hire sasquatch if he could win them a superbowl.

  9. The NFL implemented the Rooney Rule even though teams will ALWAYS hire who they want. Therefore, there has always been interviews with minority candidates STRICTLY to fulfill the rule. The teams don’t have a choice but to have interviews with no intention to hire. Flores was bound to get another head coaching spot. Now his career is probably over. What a horrible, horrible decision.

  10. Will Flores win? Will the NFL owners have to answer for their casual, opportunistic racism? Will there be a real reckoning here?

    Probably not. 😞

  11. The Rooney Rule is a joke. One black head coach in the NFL when most of the players are black.

  12. The Giants decided to hire Daboll two days before the interviewed Flores. The BB text proves that.

  13. Welcome to being a minority in America. If you have a black-sounding name in the real world, your resume gets lost in a pile, or you might be the one minority in the building. In the football world, its team been forced to follow the Rooney Rule. Teams bring in minority candidates to interview, knowing they would never hire them. As a result, not a single black candidate has been hired in this hiring cycle. But, I am sure to save face, the NFL might force one of the teams still searching to hire a black candidate, then he would be fired after 1 season. The NFL is a joke. I wouldn’t do what Flores did, but I greatly understand his frustration because I have been there.

  14. vtorres3 says:
    February 1, 2022 at 5:47 pm

    There is one flaw in Flores lawsuit against the Giants – they had already interviewed Leslie Frazier twice before they interviewed Flores, so his interview wasn’t required to meet the Rooney Rule requirements.

    ==========

    If you read Flores’ filing, he is alleging racism against the entire NFL, not just the Giants. The Giants’s hiring of Brian Daboll is only one case of many that he brings up. He also brings up the disparity in how long white head coaches are allowed to remain in place, 3-1/2 years, vs. 2-1/2 years for black head coaches. And the disparity in how successful a black head coach needs to be to retain their job in comparison with a white head coach. Read the filing. It’s pretty damning.

  15. Right you guys get caught and that’s what they all say! Fans are not dumb NFL ! Lies what other lies you got you haven’t been caught for?

  16. Soooooooooooooooo, if Flores is a man of such impeccable integrity, how come he didn’t come out and say anything about being paid to lose games or being asked to talk to quarterbacks from other teams when it supposedly happened? You know, years ago……..

  17. vtorres3 says:
    February 1, 2022 at 5:47 pm
    There is one flaw in Flores lawsuit against the Giants – they had already interviewed Leslie Frazier twice before they interviewed Flores, so his interview wasn’t required to meet the Rooney Rule requirements.
    ====================

    The suit is filed as a proposed class action.

  18. I haven’t been impressed by the HCs hired so far. Disappointed Caldwell wasn’t hire yet or Leftwhich. It’s pretty blatant.

  19. So much diversity..at the conerback position…hey I have an Idea…why not have a Rooney rule for corners….I know …diversity is a one way street…

  20. I have no sympathy for the NFL. They have created this monster and not over time it’s going to devour them.

  21. Dolphins are diversified….. General manager , assistant coaches and an angry ex coach. Flores sounds KooKoo

  22. I assume this was a written statement because any live spokesman saying these words wouldn’t be able to prevent themselves from laughing their butt off.

  23. The NFL has done some positive things; but, that doesn’t mean each individual team does not have bad actors in either ownership or executive level decision making.

  24. He not only burned this bridge he obliterated it. Maybe he is a tool…I’m sure Florio will be his lawyer

  25. There’s one black coach in a league that’s 75 percent black.
    +++++
    I believe there were 6 as recently as 2018.

  26. Respectfully, as a fan I don’t see it. When you play or coach in the NFL you have to put your ‘big boy pants on’. That means results matter. Coaches like Dungy, in paving the way, were given every opportunity to succeed. And with Dungy they looked the other way when he has spouted crap. For instance, Dungy claims to have invented the Tampa Two defense. It was actually Ray Graves who invented it at the Univ of Florida (1960-1969). He wrote a book on it, called iit the Monster Defense, and I used that book in the late 70’s and early 80’s coaching (non-professional). The NFL is a big business that doesn’t want to alienate its fans nor players. Now, that’s not to-say he didn’t get a cold shoulder from someone on an interview.

  27. It’s the same inside and outside of the NFL, people who don’t think of themselves as racist nevertheless get irrationally angry whenever a black person “rocks the boat”.

    Minorities have never been given rights, they have had to fight for every inch. Same situation here…

  28. “I’m shocked, shocked, that there’s gambling going in in this establishment!”

    “Your winnings, sir!”

    “Oh, thank you very much!”

  29. How about forgetting about race for a minute, and put a winning team on the field. The W-L playoff record/post season is color blind.

  30. “ Without Merit “ the ink isn’t even dry on the suite. The NFL has no idea what else Flores may be able to provide. Wait until his lawyers ask to see all the emails the NFL gather up last year in discovery.

  31. If I own a team, I’m hiring who I think will do the best job for my team. Period. I don’t care weather you are white, black, Hispanic, Chinese. It’s my team. The Rooney rule is a joke and now you see the reality of it. My team, not yours.

  32. NFL is being a wee to quick with the “Nuh uh!!!” response. They should have gone with a more measured “We’re shocked to hear about these allegations and will do everything we can to get to the bottom of the situation.”

    Calling your accuser a liar just makes you look bad.

  33. Yknow… they keep saying they aren’t racist… but it was pretty hard to tune out the tomahawk chop chant at KC. Hypocrites.

  34. How in the hell can the NFL review this long complaint and 5 minutes later declare it without merit? They must have the fastest investigative staff in the universe.

  35. The Rooney Rule compels teams to interview minority candidates nothing more. This guy has been an SJW from day one. Contrasts that to guys like Tony Dungy and Mike Tomlin who just put their heads down and kept grinding instead of complaining. Not even Eric Bienemy went this route. Hope you enjoyed your career Brian.

  36. People saying Flores’ career is over – well, that’s just the point, isn’t it? It’s not an easy decision to come forward against a monolithic corporation like the NFL. He has no power and this will surely affect his career.

    So – good for him for speaking up. It takes guts to do this. And anyone thinking this has no merit – how is the WTF investigation sitting with you? That’s sexual harassment, but it’s still a toxic, inappropriate work environment. So why is it so difficult to believe that racism doesn’t exist in the NFL?

  37. ‘this lawsuit will only discourage owners from hiring more minorities.’

    ————————————————————————-

    Agreed… It feeds into their stereo-type that ‘minorities’ cause trouble, are disruptive and can’t be trusted…

  38. Obviously Flores felt strongly enough to file the lawsuit, and I’m sure he knows full well his time in the NFL is over.

  39. It really is disturbing how many people feel threatened by African-Americans achieving the position of head coach. Unfortunately similar to those terrified by thought of a Black woman being a Supreme Court justice. We have way too many people who blame their personal failures on successful minorities instead of their own inadequacies.

  40. I understand not wanting to admit to any guilt in public but for the NFL PR Dept. to say the claims are without merit without a conducting an internal investigation makes no sense. They should have gone with the ol standby of no comment.

  41. How many black millionaires has the NFL created? Tell me again how they’re keeping the man down?

  42. gibson45 says:
    February 1, 2022 at 6:33 pm
    It really is disturbing how many people feel threatened by African-Americans achieving the position of head coach. Unfortunately similar to those terrified by thought of a Black woman being a Supreme Court justice. We have way too many people who blame their personal failures on successful minorities instead of their own inadequacies.

    Problem here is Flores was not successful

  43. If the NFL really – and I mean really believe in diversity – then they would not only look at the head coaching position but also at other positions.Not saying that Flores is correct in this instance or not. But – just look at the Packers – Are not all their interns and assistant white? Lewis Butkus Mahaffey Vrable?
    As a head coach you hire those individual who have the same type of mindset. But there is a whole bunch of nepotism and all one has to do is look at all the young new style coaches who are or have relatives in the coaching fraternity. Until these intern, assistants and quality control positions include a whole lot of minority candidates how would one expect more minority coaches to rise through the ranks. A few get positions as D assistants and eventually as D co-ordinators – but that is a hard nut to crack into. The NFL needs to question the owners ( and unlike the concussion issue) rather than stonewall – provide an impetus to ensure that minority positions are available or are being considered for these positions as well.

  44. Owners own the teams.
    Coaches are employees.
    Don’t like it? Find another a different career.

  45. “Diversity is core to everything we do,”

    Oh Yeah? How many head coaches are black? How many owners are black? How many GMs are black?

  46. Can you tell me why the most qualified head coach candidate with the best win loss record over the past 4 years. 4 home afccg. 2 superbowl appearances 1 sb win.
    Eric bieniemy is a way better choice

  47. ‘Systemic’ would imply that holistically all/most NFL owners ARE racist, and racist to the extent that they are willing to diminish their chances for success (more $$) just in order to keep blacks out of coaching. Given the single focused pressure to win at all costs, it’s hard to believe this is systemic. Seems like any owners who were truly doing this, would be outliers.

  48. Flores is a dope and will never get hired again in the NFL. There is probably some truth to some of this but if a billionaire owner that signs your checks asks you to do something then you either do it or get another job. Now after all this you will never get in the league again

  49. I guess nobody minds 99% white folks at the NFL games buying the tickets and drinking expensive beer. Makes me laugh.

  50. Respectfully, as a fan I don’t see it. When you play or coach in the NFL you have to put your ‘big boy pants on’. That means results matter. Coaches like Dungy, in paving the way, were given every opportunity to succeed. And with Dungy they looked the other way when he has spouted crap. For instance, Dungy claims to have invented the Tampa Two defense. It was actually Ray Graves who invented it at the Univ of Florida (1960-1969). He wrote a book on it, called iit the Monster Defense, and I used that book in the late 70’s and early 80’s coaching (non-professional). The NFL is a big business that doesn’t want to alienate its fans nor players. Now, that’s not to-say he didn’t get a cold shoulder from someone on an interview

    This is false. Dungy has always said that the Tampa 2 was a variation of Bud Carson’s Cover 2 defense of the Steel Curtain of the 70s. He always gives Carson full credit and has never claimed to “invent” anything.

  51. Diversity at the core of what you do?

    We all know it all about the Benjamin’$.

    National Fake League

  52. Bill Belichick setting the Giants up is hilarious. This is why I call people with important info and don’t text lol.

  53. Pretty bold move to declare allegations are without merit when you haven’t had time to investigate them.

  54. it does seem like sham interviews happen all the time. just look at the timing. Wasn’t leslie frazier interviewed for the Giants juuust before they announced Brian daboll as their new headcoach? sometimes employers do make same day offers after an interview but this kind of thing seems to happen a lot.
    Whatever the actual truth is, i really hope it all comes out.

  55. Maybe the NFL has a different interpretation of the word “Diversity.” I don’t think ANYONE would say having only one black head coach out of 32 teams is all that “diverse.” LOL! You can’t spin numbers like that, NFL lawyers. You’re in big trouble….

  56. Trust me if the teams he coached had good records he’d still be HC like Mike Tomlin. Color has nothing to do with it.

  57. The real issue under the environment that the NFL presents that it operates under is whether there is disparity in the number of African Americans in important positions – ownership, management and coaching. From all appearances, there is. Now whether or not the NFL is bound by this image it presents in a court of law, that’s another thing. Would be very interesting if this went to a jury.

  58. Whatever your opinion of this lawsuit…we can’t deny the NFL continues to put itself in the crosshairs. City of St. Louis, WFT, John Gruden, and now this? Good luck keeping Congress out of NFL business Roger. Too many major scandals in too short a time…and they all mostly boil down to greed, lies, and generally reprehensible behavior. Maybe every individual accusation isn’t true, but it’s getting a lot harder to believe that none of them are.

  59. Good to see the NFL did a robust and thorough investigation of
    all the various claims brought forth in this suit.
    Their crack team of investigators were able to discredit and crush
    each of these accusations — even before the ink had time to dry
    on the legal papers being filed. Very impressive work, Roger –
    you’ve made the Owners proud.

    Transparency and credibility – that’s what the NFL head offices are known for.

  60. The reason Flores was passed on for the Giants HC job was mainly because the Giants previously hired Joe Schoen from the Bills to be their new General Manager, and Shoen having working experience with Daboll of the Bills wanted to go with the guy he knew and trusted. It had nothing to do with race.

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