Leveling the Leadership Playing Field With Brian Flores
Last week Brian Flores was almost a lock to land another NFL head coaching job. Yesterday, he made a decision to risk his entire coaching career to bring about necessary change in the NFL.
In 2020, approximately 70% of NFL players were Black.* During the 2021–2022 season, there were only two black NFL head coaches, Brian Flores and Mike Tomlin.
After numerous encounters of racism in hiring practices, Flores had enough. He is suing multiple NFL teams and the NFL itself for racial discrimination.
“We filed the lawsuit so that we could create some change. And that’s important to me. I think we are at a fork in the road. We are either going to keep it the way it is or go in another direction and actually make some real change in where we are actually changing the hearts and minds of those who make decisions to hire head coaches, executives, etc.” -Flores
Courage
It is admirable the courage it takes to risk a potentially lucrative career for necessary change. Flores is fighting an uphill battle because the NFL owners (31 white billionaires) have so much power in all NFL decisions.
Representation matters during these hiring decisions. The excuse that there aren’t enough quality Black candidates is nonsense. Brian Flores is risking his career for all qualified Black coaching candidates who didn’t get hired because of the color of their skin.
In light of America’s great race awakening last year around racial discrimination in the 21st century, it’s time for proportionate leadership representation in the NFL.
Moving Forward
No one knows what will happen going forward with this lawsuit. But as a fan of the NFL, we have to speak up on these issues.
As a white dude with privilege, I feel it’s my responsibility to advocate for leadership that represents the players on the field in the NFL. I will never understand what it’s like to face discrimination in hiring. But I know that every human being should have a shot at being in a leadership role regardless of their identity.
Yes, anyone can be a leader. Leadership is more of a behavior than a position. But there is enormous power in being in a position of authority like a head coach or general manager.
So do better NFL and major respect to Brian Flores for risking his career to level the leadership playing field.
