Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores has filed a class action lawsuit against the National Football League, alleging racist hiring practices for head coaching positions.
In the suit, the Arizona Cardinals are brought up as an example of a “double standard” for Black coaches.
“Double Standard” Treatment of Steve Wilks
In 2018, the Arizona Cardinals hired Steve Wilks, a longtime NFL coach for several franchises. He led the team to a disappointing 3-13 record in his first season.
However, it was his first season, and he was not given any time to develop the team or culture and he was stuck with numerous burdens not of his own making—he had a rookie quarterback in Josh Rosen (9th pick), the team GM (Steve Keim) was suspended for five weeks following a DUI during training camp and the Cardinals had numerous injuries to key players. Mr. Keim, a white GM, kept his job, but Mr. Wilks was fired.
The next Head Coach, Kliff Kingsbury, went 5-10 in his first year with Kyler Murray as a rookie quarterback (first pick), and he retained his job and was given time to improve.
The Cardinals are just one team mentioned. The suit is against the league and all 32 franchises, although the three teams named specifically are the Miami Dolphins, New York Giants and Denver Broncos.
The league responded with a statement about the lawsuit.
“The NFL and our clubs are deeply committed to ensuring equitable employment practices and continue to make progress in providing equitable opportunities throughout our organizations. Diversity is core to everything we do, and there are few issues on which our clubs and our internal leadership team spend more time. We will defend against these claims, which are without merit.
We will see how this ends up playing out.
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