Hi everybody on today's 2 on your
side town hall. Accusations of
racial discrimination in the NFL.
We're digging into that lawsuit from a
fired coach that has turned race and hiring
into a heated debate around the league.
Plus a new version of COVID detected in
Western New York for the first time,
we'll talk with a local researcher
at the lab where it was discovered
about what comes next.
And the opening ceremony is
still a day and a half away,
but competition is officially
underway in Beijing.
Right now we're going to have
a Team USA update and tell you
more of the rules of the game.
Thanks for joining us everybody.
We always try on this show to dig into
what Western New Yorkers are talking
about and with Buffalo such a football town.
It is no surprise that there is a
lot of discussion here about that
lawsuit filed yesterday by the
former coach of the Miami Dolphins.
It's turned all of the pre Super
Bowl chatter into a debate about
racism in the NFL coaching rinks.
We brought you this story yesterday
as breaking news 1st at five former
Dolphins head coach Brian Flores
suing the league and the Giants,
Broncos and Dolphins.
He claims in his lawsuit.
Racial discrimination in his firing
by Miami and with his interviews
with those other two teams,
he included text messages from Patriots
head coach Bill Belichick that seemed
to accidentally reveal that the
Giants had decided to hire former bills.
Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll as
their new head coach three days before.
Flores even interviewed for that job,
Belichick appears to have believed
that he was texting debolle to
congratulate him on getting the
job at the center of the issue.
Here is the so called.
The Rooney rule.
It was implemented in 2003 and it requires
teams to interview at least two external,
mired minority candidates
for head coaching jobs.
One for coordinator jobs and one
minority or female candidate for
other senior level positions.
But many, including Flores,
have said that the rule leads to sham
interviews where black coaches are
just brought in to interview for jobs.
Even though a white candidate has
already been unofficially chosen.
Flores and his attorneys reiterated
that claim.
In an interview on ESPN earlier today.
Those text messages confirmed a
lot of what? A lot of us, you know,
black minority coaches already feel
that a lot of we're going into these.
And their shams that confirmed that
a lot of there's a belief in in,
you know, look, that was just a mistake
by bilchak we've all sent the wrong
text message to somebody Miller,
but in this instance it came to me
and and it was almost, you know,
it was confirmation that that
that that those back back, back,
back room dealings are happening.
But
when the team is interviewing
a qualified black candidate and
they've already made a decision,
it it shows prime aphasia evidence
of intentional discrimination.
It means that they've chosen a white
candidate before they've even given
the black candidate. The opportunity.
Flores lawsuit points to these
numbers as evidence in a league in
which 70% of the players are black.
There is just one head coach who is
black and just 15 of the 64 offensive
and defensive coordinators are black.
Those are usually the top candidates.
Anytime you have these head coaching
jobs open up the lawsuit that was filed
asks not just for financial damages
but also to force changes in the NFL.
This
is about equal opportunity for qualified.
No, black candidates, not just in football,
but you know everywhere in all industries.
Do you believe you will ever coach in
the National Football League again?
I'm hopeful that I will. I'm very hopeful.
But I understand the risks of of
of of filing a lawsuit like this,
but I'm very I'm.
I am hopeful that I will.
It's something I'm passionate about,
but if change if change comes.
And if I never coach again and
there's change it, it'll be worth it.
In response to this,
the NFL released a statement reading in part,
diversity is core to everything we do,
and there are few issues on
which our clubs and our internal
leadership teams spend more time.
We will defend against these
claims which are without merit.
And let's welcome in right now,
Nellie Drew, director of the Center
for the Advancement of Sport at Jubes
Law School and a professor there.
It's so great to get your
insight on all of this.
The numbers that we just shared
their paying a pretty clear picture
about the league as a whole.
Of course,
individual teams are going to give
reasons on why they hire someone or
don't hire someone they're never going
to say that race was involved, yet.
This is where we end up right now.
I want to start with you.
Kind of looking at this lawsuit.
How difficult is it to actually
prove that discrimination happened?
As alleged, seems like a tall task.
It is absent. What would you
call a smoking gun right?
Direct evidence that the reason for the
decision was the plaintiff's race and
the numbers are certainly concerning,
especially the fact that we are seeing
declining trend since a high point
a few years back the the challenge,
especially in this sort of a situation.
And it it certainly reflects
society as a whole as we grapple
with issues of inequality.
Is that a lot of this
results from networking.
So you know, we talk about coaching
trees and oftentimes they are.
They're familial connections
within those trees.
Know somebody,
son or nephew or whatever,
and by definition,
net extenuates a problem that's been
inherent in the system for quite a while,
and there have been some efforts made
to sort of pride for inroads in that.
The Bill Walsh Coaching Fellowship is
one of those which is an option that
gives former players the opportunity to
get some internship experience and try
to get them in positions where they can,
you know, move up the ladder,
so to speak.
But at the end of the day,
which you've got to remember,
is that the people in the front
offices of these teams typically
have a limited lifespan in terms of
their career path with that team.
If they don't win,
so their their biases,
their prejudices are going to be to
hire people that they know well who
are within their own comfort zone,
and that by definition tends to
extenuate this this problem that's
been inherent for a very long time.
This is a class action lawsuit
that's been filed, though right now.
Flores is the. Only plaintiff
listed there's been some talk,
though that others might join onto it.
If that does happen, how does it kind
of affect this case moving forward?
Well, it certainly makes it more
more of a larger issue for the NFL.
It makes it more difficult to handle.
It becomes more expensive,
lots more discovery.
And of course it also raises a great
potential that there's something out there.
I, you know, we've seen some things
we saw the text from Bill Belichick.
We saw. You know,
certain allegations that were made,
that it's possible that, for example,
the Cleveland situation that
there is another context in which.
The allegations are much more
easily demonstrated to be true,
and so that that that's a concern.
The attorneys here say that the
ultimate goal of this lawsuit is
to change the NFL rules to try
to tie hiring to performance.
If a case like this succeeds,
though, if if Flores succeeds,
what kind of court actually
order in terms of changing
how the NFL goes about this?
So that's a challenge. I mean,
typically under private association law,
private associations are not required to
do anything other than follow very basic.
You know very basic principles they
have to follow their own rules.
They can't commit fraud or illegality, right?
And? And generally speaking,
when you join a private association,
you're bound by what they do.
And and Brian Flores himself said
today in his interview that you know,
certainly the management was was free to
and should be free to pick the people that
they thought were best for the positions.
Which was, you know, honest of him,
incredibly honest of him.
Unfortunately,
it doesn't move the ball forward,
so I'm not so sure that the objective is
to change the rules like what I heard
his counsel say was that it's important.
It's imperative upon them to change
the hearts and minds of the people in
the positions to make the decisions.
And that's a much more difficult proposition.
And I think we've seen is that
the imposition of rules in and of
themselves don't necessarily get
to their desired result
separate from the discrimination.
Allegations that we've talked about here,
Flores claim that the Miami
Dolphins owner also offered him
$100,000 per loss back in 2019.
To, you know, try to get the
Dolphins a better draft pick.
He says that he turned down that offer,
but it's something that's undoubtedly
going to be investigated by the league.
I mentioned to you.
I think it's it's shocking,
but maybe not surprising to some
people who thought maybe some
of this stuff was happening.
Given all the money that's involved
here and all the stakes that are
involved is is an allegation like that
something that could also garner trouble?
Outside of the NFL,
could there be outside entities that come
in and investigate something like that?
So that's something I
would be concerned about,
especially with the you know,
the advent of sports betting.
You know the the whole point and and
this gets us into the idea of the
integrity of the league shield, right?
The idea that the outcomes are not
predetermined and that the rules
are the rules as much as we here
in Buffalo who really don't like
the overtime rule right now, right?
That's the rule,
and everybody has to play by it.
So to the extent that and and you
know we've seen it in varying context
that the least concerning of which
is perhaps the team that's bound to
the playoffs might sit some of its.
You know first string players and
attempt to provide them with some
protection before you head into the
playoffs for like the last season last.
The regular season games.
That's kind of skirting the
edges a little bit.
This of course is far more blatant and
that's that's a real concern for the league.
And I've known.
I would suggest that while there's
nothing in the NFL Constitution
and bylaws that quote unquote,
prohibits tampering,
is in those those shelt not
tamper there there is,
in the personal conduct policy.
An obligation for clubs and players.
It does not specify who in
the club it doesn't say coach,
but for clubs and players to have
an affirmative obligation to bring
forward any information they have,
that suggests that the policy
is being violated and again,
one of the tenants of policy is anything
that would affect the integrity of the game.
So the question arises then well,
then why didn't Brian Flores or or
you know Hugh Jackson,
bring that information forward
while they were still employed?
In the circumstances that
they were employed in?
And by the way,
if policy also forbids
retaliation against employees?
Who you know are our affirmative in
their in their obligations discharging
their obligations in the policy?
Yeah, there are so many angles to this story,
we could probably talk about it
for the whole half hour here,
but we'll have to leave it there for now.
We'd love to have you back though,
as this proceeds.
Professor Nellie Drew is director
of the Center for the Advancement
of Sport at UBS Law School.
Thanks so much for your time.
Thank you.
And more from this story is ahead
tonight on NBC Nightly News,
Flores talks with Gabe Gutierrez
about the lawsuit and the
fallout that's ahead at 6:30
right after Channel 2 News at 6.