All it took to expose the NFL’s alleged racist hiring practices were Bill Belichick’s thumbs. With a mistaken text message, the legendary and famously technophobic head coach inadvertently revealed one of the league’s worst kept secrets: Black coaches aren’t on equal footing with their white peers.
Belichick’s texts are at the center of Brian Flores’ lawsuit against the NFL for racial discrimination. Last month, Belichick sent Flores a congratulatory text on landing the Giants’ head coaching job, even though he hadn’t interviewed for the position yet. As it turns out, Belichick meant to text Brian Daboll, another former assistant, whom the Giants apparently decided to hire before meeting Flores.
Flores alleges his session with the Giants was one of two sham interviews with which he was involved to satisfy the Rooney Rule. The other came when he met with the Broncos’ brass in 2019. The lawsuit says John Elway and CEO Joe Ellis showed up an hour late and looked “completely disheveled,” and “it was obvious they had been drinking heavily the night before.”
Belichick, who surprisingly marks his messages with a series of exclamation points, said he “misread the text” about Daboll’s hiring. But it appears as if Belichick just texted the wrong person. The six-time Super Bowl champion told Flores he “heard from Buffalo” that he was the Giants’ choice.
Why would the Bills have any intel about Flores? (Daboll, of course, was the Bills' offensive coordinator.)
“The Giants would likely have gotten away with this most insidious form of discrimination if New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick had not mistakenly disclosed it to Mr. Flores in the [attached] text messages,” the lawsuit says.
Belichick’s mishap shows just how accepted the culture of Black suppression is around the league. He didn’t seem to think it was unusual the Giants decided to Daboll before interviewing Flores. Apparently, that’s just how business is done.
Flores recognizes his suit may cost him an opportunity to coach again in the NFL. But he’s OK with that. On “CBS Mornings” Wednesday, he said he went along with the Giants’ interview due to the “audacity of hope.” But now, he’s no longer content being a pawn in the NFL’s sham diversity hiring process.
“There are people who have come before and I know there are others who have similar stories. It's hard to speak out and you're making some sacrifices. This is bigger than coaching,” he said.
Flores’ suit also contains several allegations about unsavory treatment from Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, such as offering him bonuses of $100,000 per loss in 2019 and demanding Flores meet with a high-profile quarterback who was still under contract with another team. Reports indicate that quarterback was none other than Tom Brady. Flores said he refused to meet, because the meeting ran afoul of the NFL's tampering rules.
But Brady apparently didn’t see anything wrong with the arrangement. Flores alleges Ross went ahead and set up the meeting on his yacht, despite his objections. Flores says he left when he figured out the ploy.
Not coincidently, Flores was fired this year, and anonymous sources told reporters how difficult he was to work with.
The NFL came back with its own statement Tuesday, calling Flores’ claims meritless. It is true his lawsuit contains a lot of allegations without concrete evidence, except Belichick’s texts.
The messages may have been sent to the wrong person, but their content is damning.