Brian Flores filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the NFL and three of its teams on Tuesday, alleging racial discrimination in regard to his interview processes with both the New York Giants and Denver Broncos, and tenure with the Miami Dolphins, which ended last month.
The major takeaway from this bombshell lawsuit is the NFL's patently flawed process in interviewing and hiring minority coaching candidates. In addition, the broken system sheds further light on the league's "Rooney Rule" policy, which requires teams to interview external minority candidates for top-level openings. During Tuesday's edition of the JR SportBrief show, JR shared his thoughts on Flores' lawsuit (the 58-page document can be found here).
"It's sad. I don't know how many times I can say sad. But I'll say this as well: it's not surprising. There's absolutely no surprise here. It's just about whether or not people care," JR said. "It's about whether or not the right people care. It's about whether or not people in positions of power care... We have three minority coaches and one of which is Black. You tell me if the Rooney Rule has worked. It hasn't worked. The NFL has admitted it doesn't work...
"I've talked about the Rooney Rule for years. The principle is nice. But I might as well go to a classroom and ask the students to enforce the rules of the test while I walk out. That's ultimately what the NFL has done, expect the owners have all the power... The biggest thing that Brian Flores has done, is continue to put a gigantic flashlight on inequities. Not just in the NFL, but across all big business... Their hiring practices are disgusting."
JR's complete thoughts on Flores' lawsuit against the NFL can be accessed in the audio player above. Additional information and details about the mammoth lawsuit can be found here.
You can follow the JR SportBrief show on Twitter @JRSportBrief and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.