The Rooney Rule Is Working Exactly As Intended

Nothing to See Here, Folks, Move On

So, ex-Dolphins coach Brian Flores, fresh off a questionable firing by his obviously questionable organization, has decided to go full-on enemy of the league with a de facto class action lawsuit. I have, well, thoughts.

 Can’t wait to see how right-wing football uber alles folks spin this one. It’s not like Flores did something so reprehensible as taking a knee near a flag during a song.

If someone really believes that Duce Staley and Eric Bieniemy don’t deserve head coaching jobs, I have a bridge to sell you. In a foreign land.

 If anyone really believes that this is a racist league with racist hirings… take a look at the number of white guys who have gotten multiple chances at being a head coach, then the list of black guys with multiple chances. Hint: that second list won’t take you long to compile.

To my Eagles-added mind, this: Duce Staley, never a head coach. Rich Kotite, a head coach twice. End of lawsuit. Give Flores all of the monies.

 Needless to say, but Flores has about as much chance as getting another job in the NFL as that guy who took a knee near a flag during a song. (Unless Jolly Roger decides that having some garbage franchise like Houston take him on will kneecap the lawsuit.) 

On just the level of I hope the guy can provide for him and his people, I hope he wins the damn lawsuit. For a lot. He’s 40 years old and has decades of paychecks on the hook here, and the fact that a guy has to risk everything to get a league to join the 21st century is also all kinds of wrong.

 If I’m the NFL (puts on complete troglodyte hat), I do everything possible to avoid legal discovery. Think about what came out of the Washington cesspool in re the Jon Gruden affair, and multiple that by, well, 32. If anything can ever get advertisers to shy away from the NFL, airing all of that dirty laundry at once would be it. (Yes, this includes just cutting Flores a very large go away check… but, um, dude might have scruples. He’s risking 2-3 decades of work; that either indicates a lot of scruples, or none.)

 To play devil’s advocate… yeah, no, not going to! The NFL is an organization of corrupt rich blood ticks who deserve an advocate or the benefit of the doubt as much as, well, anyone else who speaks in bad faith. They are grifters; burn them to the ground and salt the earth where they are buried, so that all may learn from their example. (Hmm, this took a turn.)

 So how should this resolve? All coach and coordinator interviews now need to be on tape and reviewed by an outside group that is *not* chosen by the NFL. Sprinkle it with ex players, and have them represent the actual current demographic mix of the NFL. Give this group the ability to levy fines, payable to the charities of their choice, for anything that smacks of malfeasance. Tax the living hell out of bad behavior, take some teams away from their owners, and create a promotion and relegation system with a spring league (the USFL! Sure to last more than a few weeks!) where racist asshat owners get cycled out of the league.

 How will this resolve? With none of the above, of course!