Brian Flores says he filed lawsuit against NFL and 3 teams alleging racial discrimination to ‘create some change’

By Ben Morse, CNN

(CNN) -- Brian Flores, the former head coach of the Miami Dolphins, says that he filed the lawsuit against the NFL and three teams alleging racial discrimination so that he could "create some change" in the league.

"We didn't have to file a lawsuit to let the world know that there's a problem from a hiring standpoint in regards to minority cultures in the National Football League," he said on 'CBS Mornings' on Wednesday.

"The numbers speak for themselves. We filed the lawsuit so that we could create some change. And that's important to me. We're at a fork in the road right now. We're either going to keep it the way it is or we're going to go in another direction and actually make some real change where we're actually changing the hearts and minds of those who make decisions to hire head coaches, executives, etc."

Flores filed the lawsuit on Tuesday against the NFL, the New York Giants, the Denver Broncos and the Miami Dolphins organizations.

The 40-year-old, who is Black, says in his lawsuit that the Giants interviewed him for their vacant head coaching job under disingenuous circumstances, as Flores had found out three days before his interview that the Giants had already decided to hire Brian Daboll.

Flores says he learned this after receiving a congratulatory text message from New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick that was sent in error.

He said he went through a "range of emotions" upon finding out that he was attending what he called a "sham interview."

"Humiliation, disbelief, anger," Flores said. "I've worked so hard to get where I am in football to become a head coach. Put 18 years in this league and to go into what was a sham interview, I was hurt."

Flores alleges in his lawsuit that his interview with the Giants was a ruse so the team could "demonstrate falsely to League Commissioner Roger Goodell and the public at large that it was in compliance with the Rooney Rule."

The NFL instituted the Rooney Rule in 2003 in an effort to increase diversity among the NFL's head coaching, general manager and executive ranks. The rule requires every team to interview at least two external minority candidates for open head coaching positions, according to the NFL's Football Operations website.

Currently, only one out of 27 head coaches employed in the NFL is Black, with five teams without a head coach, in a league where roughly 70% of the players are Black. There are two other non-Black minority coaches -- one of Puerto Rican and Mexican descent and one of Lebanese descent.

Flores thanked all of the messages of support that he has received having filed his lawsuit, saying it has been a "tough 24 hours."

In his statement in the lawsuit, Flores acknowledged that it could be damaging for his future career prospects -- he was interviewing for two other head coach openings at the time it was released.

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But creating a level playing field is more important to the four-time Super Bowl winning coach.

"I know of very capable coaches, executives who are minorities who, in a lot of cases are as qualified, more qualified and, quite frankly, better than their White counterparts and are not given an equal opportunity."

He added: "I'm not the only story here. I'm not the only one with a story to tell. It's hard to speak out. You're making some sacrifices. But this is bigger than football, it's bigger than coaching."

The-CNN-Wire
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