Welcome to The GIST’s Sunday Scroll, where we dive deep into one timely sports topic.

Today’s the last Sunday of February and, in turn, the last Sunday of Black History Month, so — inspired by Brian Flores’ recent racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL — we’re taking today’s Scroll to dive deep into the case, Black representation in other major pro leagues and more. Thanks for being here.

This isn’t about me. This is about something that’s much bigger than me, which is a system in the NFL that, in my opinion, is broken as far as hiring practices for Black and minority coaches and minorities in general.

Brian Flores filed his bombshell racial discrimnation lawsuit against the NFL on February 1st (notably the first day of Black History Month), sending shockwaves across the sports world and beyond. The suit came a few weeks after Flores was unexpectedly fired by the Miami Dolphins, despite leading the team to back-to-back winning seasons, the first Dolphins HC to achieve the feat in nearly 20 years.

• The explosive suit includes many damning allegations, including that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered to pay Flores $100K per loss during the 2019 season as part of Miami’s efforts to “tank” for the No. 1 2020 draft pick. Mind-boggling.

Other claims relate to the league’s “Rooney Rule,” which requires teams to interview at least two external minority candidates for every HC vacancy. Flores alleges that the NY Giants interviewed him for their HC opening to satisfy the rule with no intention of hiring him…and he has the receipts to back it up.

Flores has since been hired as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ senior defensive assistant & linebackers coach — a job he’s exceptionally overqualified for — where he’ll join Steelers HC Mike Tomlin, one of only three active Black HCs in the league.

• But this new role won’t brush away the lawsuit. Flores will still move forward “so that real change can be made in the NFL.”

To fully understand the context of Flores’ suit, it’s important to take a look back at the history (or lack thereof) of Black representation in NFL leadership, starting with Fritz Pollard, who became the first Black HC in 1921 (before the NFL and AFL merged) when the Akron Pros hired him to coach (and play on the team, too).

• One of two Black players in the league at the time, Pollard was barred from dressing in the locker room with his team and was forced to suit up in a car outside the field.

It took nearly 70 years for the league to see a second Black HC — the (then Los Angeles) Raiders hired Art Shell in 1989, making him the first Black HC of the modern era. Since then, progress has sadly remained slow. Of the 500 head coaches in the league’s history, just 24 have been Black, despite Black players making up a majority of the player pool.

As for the front office, Hall of Famer Ozzie Newsome became the league’s first Black general manager (GM) when he was tapped to lead the Baltimore Ravens in 2002.

• As of late, there’s been better representation than in the HC ranks, but there are currently only seven Black GMs (and notably no Black team owners) in the league, another indication of the pervasive issues plaguing the NFL.

Those troubling stats bring us to the aforementioned Rooney Rule, a policy created in the wake of the 2002 firings of Tampa Bay Buccaneers HC Tony Dungy and Minnesota Vikings HC Dennis Green, two of just three Black HCs in the league at the time.

• Dungy had just led the Bucs to a winning season while Green posted his first losing record in 10 years. Head-scratching choices, right?

Well, the public agreed. Following a storm of public outrage and the release of a study showing that Black HCs were more likely to be fired than their white counterparts (despite higher winning percentages), the Rooney Rule was implemented in 2003.

• There was some progress in the years that followed — the league added 14 non-white coaches in the next 12 seasons following the implementation of the rule — but many of those coaches lost their roles shortly after.

• And now, the league is basically back to where they started in 2002. As Flores’ lawsuit highlights, the Rooney Rule has mostly served as a band-aid solution as opposed to the league purposely marching toward addressing a deep, systemic wound.

Let’s take stock of Black representation in coaching and front office ranks across other pro sports leagues.

🏀 WNBA: Widely regarded as one of the most progressive leagues, the W leads the way on this front. *pretends to be shocked* There are currently five Black head coaches in a league of 12 teams, and three are Black women.

• And there’s been progress in the front office, too. Former W star Renee Montgomery — a Black woman — became part-owner of the Atlanta Dream in February 2021, making her the first former player to become both a WNBA owner and an executive in the league (she’s also a VP for the Dream). Keep it comin’.

🏀 NBA: Similar to the NFL and the W, the majority of NBA players are Black, specifically 74.2% as of 2020. And those numbers translate to team leadership: over 70 Black men have held the HC role since Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell became the league’s first Black HC in 1966.

• Today, 14 of the 30 HC roles are held by Black men.

• That said, there’s still cause for concern. Data suggests that Black HCs are given less leeway than their white counterparts. Plus, there’s only one Black majority team owner in the NBA: Michael Jordan.

⚾️ MLB: In 1999, the MLB instituted the “Selig Rule,” which requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate for every managerial or front office opening. But, in a league where the majority of players are white, the rule has done little to diversify the managerial ranks.

• There are only two Black managers currently in the dugouts, and only 16 Black men have held the role since Cleveland’s Frank Robinson became the first in 1975.

• Plus, just like the Rooney Rule, the Selig Rule has made minority candidates feel as if they’re being interviewed just to check a box. It’s time for change.

So, with these trends in mind, what comes next? What will lead to actual change? There’s been much discussion about the best way forward in the wake of Flores’ suit, but unsurprisingly seemingly little reflection and accountability within the NFL, which responded to Flores’ allegations by saying “diversity is core to everything we do…”

• An interesting response from a league that blackballed quarterback Colin Kaepernick for protesting police brutality against people of color and that discontinued the racist practice of race norming *checks notes* last year.

Real systemic change requires the league taking a real, serious look in the mirror. As Flores outlined in a statement accompanying his suit, a starting place is shaking up the NFL’s ownership ranks. It’s not unique to sports — white owners are more likely to hire people who look like them, perpetuating an exclusionary system pervasive across industries.

• “There are no Black voices in those meetings,” Flores notes, referring to NFL owners’ meetings. So we need to start with increasing Black ownership, with Black voices having a (metaphoric and literal) seat at the table.

• And there are many other actionable ideas to create change, but they all require the league to take accountability. Flores bravely jeopardized his career to create a better future for others; now it’s on the league to ensure that sacrifice isn’t in vain.

This On Her Turf podcast episode with Jennifer King, assistant running backs coach for the Washington Commanders and the first Black woman to become a full-time coach in the NFL. We bow down.

Transitioning to the other football, it’s a beautiful day to support the Black Women’s Player Collective, a non-profit created by Black players in the NWSL to advance opportunities for Black girls in sport and beyond. Essential work.

Apart from coaching and the front office, the NFL has historically lacked diversity at its most important on-field position — quarterback. Back in 2019, The Undefeated launched a series on “The Year of the Black Quarterback,” a great companion to today's Scroll.

These numbers from FiveThirtyEight, providing statistical evidence to back Brian Flores’ claims of discrimination. Stats don’t lie.