Former NFL Coaches Share Their Experiences on Twitter & Support Brian Flores Discrimination Suit

Syndication: Cincinnati
Sam Greene, The Enquirer

Former Browns head coach Hue Jackson showed support for Brian Flores on Twitter following the announcement that Flores is suing the NFL over racial discrimination.

The director of Jackson’s foundation, Kim Diemert tweeted that they have records that could help Flores case against the NFL.

She went on to say that the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell knew about the allegations and covered it up. The Browns paid Brown, DePodesta and Berry bonus money along with then head coach Hue Jackson to tank the 2016 and 2017 season. 

As League of Justice founder Amy Dash wrote today about the Flores situation, bribing a coach to fix games is a federal crime. It’s no ordinary week of NFL news when two NFL owners are accused of fixing games in back to back days.

These allegations only strengthen Brian Flores’ lawsuit, which states that the NFL racially discriminated against him both while he was a coach with the Miami Dolphins and while he was interviewing to be head coach with the Denver Broncos and New York Giants. 

Hue Jackson’s addition to the case against the NFL could be a big win for Flores, as his case will only get stronger, especially if the proof that Diemert says she has, is used in the class-action lawsuit.

Jackson was never able to field a winning team during his time as head coach of the Browns, finishing 1-15 in 2016 and 0-16 in 2017, respectively.

When asked on Twitter why he was addressing the allegations now, instead of back when it occurred, Jackson tweeted back, “Not bitter at all. Doing well. I just get tired of watching my brothers get played, and you people believe the narratives. Stop with that. Go seek the truth then. If what I’m saying is a lie, prove me as a liar and bitter. Bet you they say NO COMMENT!”

Jackson went on to reply to another user accusing him of being a bad coach, saying: “Dude if you knew the truth you would swallow everything in your mouth. Enough. Truth just starting to seep out of what really happens in the NFL. Trust me there are some great owners out there and there are some people you better dig deeper and see the truth.”

The Browns released a statement on the matter today, stating: “The recent comments by Hue Jackson and his representatives relating to his tenure as our head coach are completely fabricated. Any accusation that any member of our organization was incentivized to deliberately lose games is categorically false.”

Former Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis revealed today on ESPN that he saw media reports in 2002 that the Panthers were planning to appoint John Fox as their next head coach, but the Panthers persuaded him to come in for an interview regardless.

Lewis believes that then-Panthers owner Jerry Richardson only wanted to be able to say he interviewed a Black applicant, despite Richardson telling him at the time that it was a serious interview and that he hadn’t made up his mind whether or not to hire Fox.

The Rooney Rule came into effect just a year later.

Former head coach Tony Dungy tweeted out his letter from a year ago, where he talks about the NFL’s issues with minority hiring.

Dungy tweeted today, “One year ago I wrote a letter to NFL owners saying the NFL had a problem only they could solve. Not a lot has changed. Brian Flores’ suit shows the frustration many black coaches have. It could be just the tip of the iceberg. Something has to change!”

In the letter, Dungy accuses the NFL of ‘not utilizing all of our resources because we aren’t truly embracing minority hiring in every aspect of our game.’

Dungy went on to write, “It is about the mindset of finding quality leadership and utilizing ALL the talent available to the NFL. This is not a new problem and it’s one that you have fixed before. It has just taken a little work on your parts.”

Detroit Lions assistant coach Aaron Glenn has been interviewing for coaching positions, and has a different perspective on his current situation as while interviewing for head coaching jobs.

Speaking with the Detroit News, Glenn said, “I thought all my interviews were really good interviews. The way I look at it is I get a chance to get in front of these GMs and other high-level people in the organization and just express my thoughts on how to be a head coach and how to run an organization. That’s the only way I look at it. I don’t look at it like they’re fake interviews or anything like that. If that was to happen, that’s shame for the league, but I haven’t experienced that, just to be honest with you.”



Tags:

Categorized: