“When you’re black, NFL teams are looking for a reason not to hire you”: Stephen A Smith Stands with Brian Flores amidst racial discrimination case against the NFL

Brian Flores risked his future after launching a lawsuit against the NFL and 3 teams for racial discrimination. And Stephen A Smith stood solid with the former HC.

Brian Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL, the Miami Dolphins, the Denver Broncos, and the New York Giants for alleged racism in hiring. He presented that the teams only brought him in under the facade of the NFL’s Rooney Rule that requires teams to interview a minority candidate for the position.

In class-action lawsuit, Brian Flores shines public light on his experiences as Black coach in NFL. He alleges sham head coach interviews, including with Giants last month, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offering him $100K per loss to tank in 2019, and more: https://t.co/FwWUH16GAy pic.twitter.com/uFN22wszm4

— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) February 1, 2022

ESPN’s Stephen A Smith, who has often been vocal about the discrimination of African Americans in HC jobs across sports in America, showed his solidarity with Flores.

Stephen A Smith called on athletes to support Brian Flores

Speaking on ESPN’s “First Take”, Smith applauded Flores for his stance and hoped players across the league will support him in his cause.

“I’m very proud of what Brian Flores is doing, and I stand with him … my only question is, damn, when you reveal private text messages, that makes people feel uncomfortable,” Smith said.

“Because when you do stuff like that — white people come to work with a job to do every day. Black folks come with a responsibility.”

“You know, there’s a Super Bowl coming up,” Smith noted. “Last time I checked, there’s a whole bunch of black players on the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams. I want to emphasize I’m not advocating you don’t play the Super Bowl.”

“All these social justice issues that we attacked, and it was valid and legitimate, we saw players in the NFL addressing that. This is an issue too,” Smith said. “An issue to protest about. This is an issue to speak about. This is an issue to come together as athletes! As Black athletes everywhere! And say we gotta do something about it.”

“The other part,” Smith said to co-host Keyshawn Johnson, “when you’re black, they’re looking for a reason not to hire you. Whereas with whites, they’re willing to embrace reasons to hire you.”

Currently, only one of the NFL’s 32 teams employs a black head coach. The Pittsburgh Steelers with Mike Tomlin, who has never had a losing season in his 15 years with the franchise. Brian Flores was the other and had just led the Miami Dolphins to back-to-back winning season, but was let go nonetheless.

If the allegations are true, the people responsible must be expelled.

 

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