The Fritz Pollard Alliance supports and promotes the advancement of minority candidates for positions with NFL teams. FPA executive director Rod Graves issued a statement on Wednesday supporting the most open and aggressive action taken by any current, former, or prospective member of an NFL team to address the problem of bias in employment practices.
“Brian Flores‘ lawsuit is just the latest, dramatic call to action for the NFL and its team owners,” Grave said in a statement issued on Wednesday. “Men and women of color in the NFL community have long known that the odds of advancing in the coaching ranks and in the front office are stacked against them. The Fritz Pollard Alliance supports Coach Flores and others in their effort to level the playing field for men and women of color.”
For years, the deficiencies have been obvious. The evidence of bias hides in plain sight. Flores becomes the first one to take action about it.
His lawyer has suggested that others will join the lawsuit. When it comes to the potential for retaliation (which is illegal but some believe inevitable), there is strength in numbers. We’ll see if the numbers increase in the coming days.
