The late Curt Flood, St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame member and a man who changed Major League Baseball, did not prevail in his landmark lawsuit that challenged that game’s “reserve clause.”
Flood lost. Baseball players would later win. Free agency became a reality and contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars were on the way.
Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores will find it difficult to win his bombshell discrimination lawsuit against three NFL teams and the league. Yet, like Flood, his legal challenge could change how business is done.
Flores’ lawsuit claims he went through multiple “sham” head coaching interviews and was treated unfairly by the Dolphins during his three seasons there. The suit targets the Denver Broncos and New York Giants, too.
As luck, or bad luck, would have it for Flores and the NFL, his decision to risk his coaching career hinges on a text message from New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
Three days before Flores’ interview with the Giants, Belichick accidentally texted Flores, congratulating him on winning the job. Whoops. Wrong Bill. Belichick thought he was texting Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, who got the Giants job.
Flores found out first-hand in an offhand way he was interviewing for no reason because the job had already been filled.
Flores said Broncos GM John Elway was an hour late for his scheduled interview, adding that Elway “looked disheveled” and “not interested.” The Broncos hired Nathaniel Hackett.
“It was a range of emotions,” Flores told CBS.
“Humiliation, disbelief, anger. I’ve worked so hard to get to where I am in football to become a head coach. Put 18 years in this league, and to go on what was a sham interview, I was hurt.
“We’re at a fork in the road right now. We’re either gonna keep it the way it is, or we’re gonna go in another direction and actually make some real change.”
The 58-page lawsuit Complaint-against-National-Football-League-et-al-Filed.pdf (wigdorlaw.com) is well worth reading. It does contain a curse word right off the top from Belichick’s text message.
Texans in Lovie
Former Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and University of Illinois head coach Lovie Smith has been tabbed as the Houston Texans head coach. He replaces the fired David Culley and brings the number of Black NFL head coaches to three – the same number the 2021 season ended with.
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, a pal of the immediate past president, is a point man in Flores’ lawsuit. Ross has a Black general manager, Chris Grier, and his new head coach is bi-racial.
The Dolphins hired Mike McDaniel, whose father is Black, to take over for the fired Flores.
McDaniel has been coaching for 15 years but served just one season as offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers. He didn’t call plays last year, either. That responsibility was head coach Kyle Shanahan,”
Of nine open head coaching positions in the NFL, only the New Orleans Saints have an opening. Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy was scheduled to interview for the Saints job on Tuesday, Feb. 8.
The Reid Roundup
Cross country skier Samuel Uduigowme Ikpefan and flag bearer Seun Adigun, Nigeria’s first Summer and Winter Olympian and a candidate for the International Olympic Committee, marched in the Winter Olympics opening ceremony in fashion styled by Black-owned Houston based Actively Black. People ranked their outfits fourth behind Jamaica (Puma), Team USA (Ralph Lauren) and Team Canada (LuluLemon)…USA TODAY sports columnist Bob Nightengale wrote this week, “While Brian Flores explosive and courageous class-action lawsuit against the NFL this past week drew everyone’s attention, his powerful claims could easily be shifted to another major sport, too. Yes, deplorable hiring practices are just as bad in Major League Baseball.” …Former St. Louis Rams safety and Hall of Fame member Aeneas Williams, a Southern University product, attended the NFL combine for HBCU players on Jan. 29, ““When scouts come and get a chance to see kids, talk to them, interview them, it’s a whole different thing. That’s what I’m excited about.” …Don’t get your hopes up for a swift end to the MLB players lockout. St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright on Sunday told the Belleville News-Democrat “the owners current offer is far from a place we could start negotiations from. It would be interesting to see how fast something would be negotiated if they brought a more reasonable offer to the table to start.”
