When former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores filed a blistering 58-page federal racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL and three teams — the Dolphins, the New York Giants and the Denver Broncos — it prompted much discussion about inequality in the league. And for Flores, it marked the start of a long, uphill battle.
Flores is making a principled and necessary decision at the risk of losing it all.
“In certain critical ways, the NFL is racially segregated and is managed much like a plantation,” the Flores lawsuit alleges, describing a league ruled by mostly white billionaire men who mostly hire white male coaches who then tell their mostly Black players (70 percent, according to the lawsuit) what to do.
The lawsuit also builds on racist moments from the league’s past, including the shameful practice of “race-norming,” in which Black players were documented as having a lower baseline cognitive function than white players, which makes it harder to prove Black players suffer from a mental deficit as a result of brain injury and trauma from playing the sport. The league engaged in this practice until 2021, when a group of Black players sued, claiming the practice prevented them from being fairly compensated for sustained brain injuries. The NFL admitted no wrongdoing, but agreed to end the practice in a joint agreement.
In response to Flores, the NFL said that “diversity is core to everything we do, and there are few issues on which our clubs and our internal leadership team spend more time,” vowing to “defend against these claims, which are without merit.”
“We vehemently deny any allegations of racial discrimination and are proud of the diversity and inclusion throughout our organization,” a Dolphins spokesman said in a statement responding to the suit. “The implication that we acted in a manner inconsistent with the integrity of the game is incorrect.”
In a statement, the Giants said Flores’ allegations are “disturbing and simply false.”
The expected denials have not deterred Flores. “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,” Flores said in a statement the day his lawsuit went public. This stance should be commended, especially when you consider the career risk the 40-year-old Flores is undertaking. Flores is a candidate the NFL should be actively promoting, not shunning.
And yet this act could likely lead to not only the end of Flores’ career, but prove how difficult it is to hold the NFL accountable — something former player Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers can attest to. Like Kaepernick, Flores is now making a principled and necessary decision at the risk of losing it all. We can only hope that he’s able to force the issue to the point that it can’t be ignored, even in the face of a powerful league.
With Flores out of the coaching ranks, Mike Tomlin of the Pittsburgh Steelers is the only Black head coach in the NFL and Ron Rivera of the newly named Washington Commanders the only Latino head coach.
Page 28 of the lawsuit quotes sports journalist Jemele Hill as saying, “[M]ost NFL owners have been white men, and they have seldom been willing to let African Americans or Latinos call plays — either on the field or from the sidelines. This is no different from when franchises presumed that Black players weren’t smart enough to play quarterback and lacked leadership skills to command men.”
Notice that she ties in both Black and Latino representation here. Flores is of Honduran descent, born in Brooklyn to two Honduran parents who identify as Garifuna, a population with Caribbean, Indigenous and African roots. In 2020, during Hispanic Heritage Month and while he was still the coach of the Dolphins, Flores was featured in a video shared by the team where he spoke with great pride about being Honduran and Garifuna.








