Canthony wrote:

IF you dive into his HC tenure, it is really bad. Down to what players and coaches have said about him. I am not saying it is right or wrong, but I would bet being that confrontational is what would have owners think otherwise. Then once he went full on with it and took on the NFL owners essentially, was the dagger. Once he went that route, it cost him his second chance and being able to change. When you have that many red flags against you, and you have multiple players and coaches speak about it, you don't have the luxury to take on the owners. If that makes sense.

I'm not defending his actions as HC in Miami, it does sound egregious if the accounts are accurate.

I am saying I hope he learned from his mistakes and is a better coach (and person).

Same with K1, the olde narratives may (or may not) still apply. Some people can learn and grow, others not so much unfortunately.

dadevike wrote:

However, if we do a little arithmetic we see 6 defendant franchises plus 25 subpoenaed teams equals 31 teams. There is one team missing. ☺️

Bingo! 😱

JR44 wrote:

Not saying he would not hire them if they had black lawyers, but that he didn't hire any black lawyers. Do you not see the hypocrisy in that?!
If he truly cared about the black community and anyone other than himself, why not hire a law firm with black lawyers? OR how about a law firm with at least one black lawyer? His law firm has FIFTEEN lawyers and not one of them is black. Do you mean to tell me there is not one top law firm that has a black lawyer? So Flores is accusing the NFL of not hiring blacks, while he himself does not.
He started this lawsuit after he got fired for being complete dictator and verbally abusing others. He proceeded to make it about race an the Rooney rule which had nothing to do with him getting fired or not getting another position. If you looked at him and this case objectively you would see how truly it is all garbage.

I try to be objective. Flores is a Viking so maybe I am not 100% objective. I think I want the lawsuit to work out in whatever way is best for the Vikings, more so than for Flores. So I am admittedly not objective when it comes to the Vikings. But that is what it means to be a fan.

Anyway, a discrimination claim cannot be that a team failed to hire a black head coach. That is an automatic loser of a case and gets dismissed immediately (with a chance to amend the complaint to state a legal claim). In fact, I believe he is suing the Texans and they actually have a black head coach. The claim needs to be that the team refused to hire Flores (or another plaintiff) BECAUSE they are black. So Flores hiring a law firm without a black lawyer would not be hypocritical. However, if he refused to hire a law firm BECAUSE they had black lawyers, that WOULD be hypocritical.

Like I said in a previous post, I have no idea and no opinion about the merits of his lawsuit. I am content to watch it play out as it will. If the NFL and the teams can show that hiring decisions were based on merit and not race (or were based on something other than race) then Flores will lose. I am fine with that. Also, my feelings about the wisdom of the Rooney Rule are irrelevant. If he can show that some teams follow only the letter but not the spirit of the Rooney Rule, he may have something. Not sure if that qualifies as employment discrimination, but it would not be a good look for the NFL.

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/supreme-court-declines-to-accept-nfls-appeal-in-brian-flores-case

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the NFL’s petition for appeal in the Brian Flores case.

From the 25-page document submitted by the league in January 2026, this is the question the NFL presented to the U.S. Supreme Court: “Whether an arbitration agreement governing disputes in a professional sports league is categorically unenforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act because it designates the league commissioner as the default arbitrator and permits the commissioner to develop arbitral procedures.”

The league wisely made the question narrow, in order to avoid the possibility that the league’s arbitration process would be taken to its logical extreme. If the NFL can make the Commissioner the default arbitrator for any employment disputes or other legal claims made by employees, every American corporation could make the CEO the default arbitrator for any employment disputes or other legal claims made against it by its employee.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit had found that the NFL’s arbitration agreement was not enforceable due to the Commissioner’s power over the process. The decision not to take the appeal doesn’t operate as an agreement by the Supreme Court; however, if the Supreme Court wanted to endorse the league’s longstanding in-house process, it could have taken up the case and then reversed the outcome.

The current legal posture doesn’t prevent the NFL from arguing its position in cases that arise in other courts. However, there’s now a clear path to suing the NFL and avoiding the mandatory arbitration clauses in non-player employment contracts by suing the NFL in New York federal court — since the Southern District of New York falls within the Second Circuit.

As to Flores, the development means that his claims against the NFL, Dolphins, Broncos, Giants, and Texans (and the claims made by Steve Wilks against the Cardinals and Ray Horton against the Titans) will be resolved by the judicial process. With full discovery. And, absent a settlement or a successful motion for summary judgment, with a trial in open court. All facts will be introduced and developed and exposed to public scrutiny.

That could spark a settlement, sooner than later. The league uses arbitration due in part to its desire to keep its business secret. Unless it goes away, the Flores case could result in all sorts of things the NFL would rather us not know playing out in the public eye.

Interesting development. He's either gonna get a fat settlement and an NDA here soon, or this will go on for many more years.

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/nfl-brian-floress-lawyers-issue-comments-following-supreme-courts-decision

Brian Flores’s lawyers issue comments following Supreme Court’s decision

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court declined to accept the NFL’s appeal in the case brought by Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores (and Steve Wilks and Ray Horton). The decision allows his case to proceed in court — and, in theory, to culminate with a public trial.

Both sides have issued comments in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s ruling.

“We respect the Supreme Court’s decision not to grant review,” a league spokesperson said. “Regardless of the forum, we are fully prepared to defend ourselves as this matter proceeds.”

Said Flores’s lawyers: “We are pleased that the Supreme Court declined to accept the NFL’s appeal. The NFL must now accept that its commissioner cannot be the arbitrator over discrimination claims against the league and its teams. We look forward to litigating these claims in court.”

Obviously, the league wants the forum to be its in-house arbitration process. It keeps things secret, and it tips the scales of justice in the league’s favor.

But, no, the NFL won’t suddenly surrender. It will aggressively challenge Flores at every turn, with the goal of securing a victory without having to take the case to trial.

When will that happen? It could take months. Maybe years. After all, it took nearly 52 months to get the case past the threshold question of whether the claims will be resolved in court or in arbitration.

If. you like Flores running our defense, this is excellent news for us.

The three chances of any of those new 25 teams, (or the prior 6 teams referenced) hiring him as a head coach have now fully flipped to slim, fat and none.

He's got a very, very good chance of winning the lawsuit, as he is backed with an eminent law firm.s

As an employer, the chances of me hiring someone who previously filed or named me in a lawsuit are the same slim, fat and none.

He's being paid well in Minnesota. If he wins this lawsuit against the NFL, he (and his co-named individuals who have joined him) are going to do financially very well. He's got nothing to lose and if the courts find out that he is right, he has plenty to gain.

I would say that Flores will be our D Coordinator as long as he wants to be. No other team is going to give him a shot at being head coach now.

The original lawsuit is that he was fired because he was Black...by the same guy that hired him while he was Black. Why do people think he has an "excellent chance" to win? He's got a beef with Ross regarding potential tanking but that's an NFL issue not a legal issue. He went scorched earth on the Dolphins and the NFL...again that's his prerogative...but it's not going to earn him many that want to jump on that grenade.

Like virtually all DEI programs, the Rooney rule is well intentioned but discriminatory and in this case stupid. Do you really want to parade these coaches out for a faux interview just so teams can check a box? The NFL has 32 teams all driven to be the best. They're going to hire the HC that best makes that happen.

Instead of the Rooney rule, I'd much rather see some offseason training for minority candidates on all aspects of preparing to succeed at the next level. I'd be willing to bet you could create some form of mentorship with ex-coaches, managers etc. that would be more than happy to help out so that we can really see progress in minority hiring at the top levels.

badgervike wrote:

The original lawsuit is that he was fired because he was Black...by the same guy that hired him while he was Black. Why do people think he has an "excellent chance" to win? He's got a beef with Ross regarding potential tanking but that's an NFL issue not a legal issue. He went scorched earth on the Dolphins and the NFL...again that's his prerogative...but it's not going to earn him many that want to jump on that grenade.
Like virtually all DEI programs, the Rooney rule is well intentioned but discriminatory and in this case stupid. Do you really want to parade these coaches out for a faux interview just so teams can check a box? The NFL has 32 teams all driven to be the best. They're going to hire the HC that best makes that happen.
Instead of the Rooney rule, I'd much rather see some offseason training for minority candidates on all aspects of preparing to succeed at the next level. I'd be willing to bet you could create some form of mentorship with ex-coaches, managers etc. that would be more than happy to help out so that we can really see progress in minority hiring at the top levels.

These are the allegations:

Core Allegations:

• Sham Interviews: Flores alleges that teams conduct "fake" interviews with minority candidates to comply with the NFL's Rooney Rule, despite having already decided on another candidate. He specifically cited his 2019 interview with the Denver Broncos and his 2022 interview with the New York Giants.

• Systemic Bias: The suit claims that qualified Black and minority candidates are continually held to higher standards and are severely underrepresented in executive, coordinator, and head coaching roles compared to the percentage of Black players in the league.

• Tanking and Retaliation: Flores alleged that former Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 for every loss during the 2019 season to intentionally lose games and secure a higher draft pick. He also added the Houston Texans to the lawsuit, alleging he was not hired as head coach in retaliation for filing the case

StickierBuns wrote:

These are the allegations:
Core Allegations:
Sham Interviews: Flores alleges that teams conduct "fake" interviews with minority candidates to comply with the NFL's Rooney Rule, despite having already decided on another candidate. He specifically cited his 2019 interview with the Denver Broncos and his 2022 interview with the New York Giants.
Systemic Bias: The suit claims that qualified Black and minority candidates are continually held to higher standards and are severely underrepresented in executive, coordinator, and head coaching roles compared to the percentage of Black players in the league.
Tanking and Retaliation: Flores alleged that former Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 for every loss during the 2019 season to intentionally lose games and secure a higher draft pick. He also added the Houston Texans to the lawsuit, alleging he was not hired as head coach in retaliation for filing the case

Oh...I get it. The Rooney rule compliance and tanking are NFL issues though. Compliance with the Rooney rule is not a legal issue for the Courts. The tanking is likely an NFL issue as well If the CEO of a company requests that you do something that is perfectly legal...not sure whether refusal and belligerence is a legally defensible position either. Flores had some well documented other issues during his tenure with Miami. He'll also struggle trying to prove he was fired because of his race...by the same guy that hired him.

The only real legal issue is attempting to prove systemic racism in a league that is 75 to 80% minority which will be a tough task

badgervike wrote:
The only real legal issue is attempting to prove systemic racism in a league that is 75 to 80% minority which will be a tough task

Well, slavery in the U.S. was 100% black so not sure that has anything to do with disproving systematic racism. He's expressly talking about coaching and management opportunities and are they real or capped by racism. Not saying he's right or wrong, what I'm saying is you make it sound like he has a zero case here and I think its going to be more problematic for the NFL than you think. The stall game will be in full mode here regardless.

StickierBuns wrote:

Well, slavery in the U.S. was 100% black so not sure that has anything to do with disproving systematic racism. He's expressly talking about coaching and management opportunities and are they real or capped by racism. Not saying he's right or wrong, what I'm saying is you make it sound like he has a zero case here and I think its going to be more problematic for the NFL than you think. The stall game will be in full mode here regardless.

C'mon Sticky...you're really not using APs slavery comparison vs athletes that are paid $$$ millions and are free to quit whenever they want.

badgervike wrote:

C'mon Sticky...you're really not using APs slavery comparison vs athletes that are paid $$$ millions and are free to quit whenever they want.

I tried to illustrate that just because there's 75% black athletes doesn't mean there's not systemic racism in coaching or management positions in the NFL. This isn't about the players in the NFL, its about how coaching candidates are evaluated and what they can realistically get to.

Flores had issues as a HC when he was with Miami. Similar to non-Black coaches like Zimmer, Childress, Tice, etc. who had other leadership related issues...about the best they can hope for is a Coordinator job.

The head coach needs to be a leader of men able to articulate and motivate. Flores is more an X and O's coach...like Zimmer.