“The right thing to do” – NFL insider offers solution for Roger Goodell amid Brian Flores lawsuit (EXCLUSIVE)
Brian Flores' lawsuit against the NFL goes to court after a federal judge rejected the option of arbitration in March. The former Miami Dolphins head coach sued the league following his firing, saying the league was "rifed with racism" while heavily criticizing the hiring methods for Black head coaches.
In an exclusive interview with The Ballfather Podcast from Sportskeeda, a solution was proposed by Jarrett Bell, a USA Today NFL columnist who won the 2022 Bill Nunn Memorial Award. According to Bell, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell should just step away from the case:
"Goodell and the NFL, just given the way that the contracts are written in the NFL and when you talk about kind of the process for challenging labor issues. Well, you know, Roger Goodell, and we've heard this from the NFL players union many times before on discipline issues, the judge, the jury, the executioner.
"Well, I think Goodell could do something when it comes to removing himself as the arbitrator in this case, merely because he is mentioned as one of the defendants. And so I think that would be the right thing to do. So if I was commissioner for a day, I'd remove, I'd recuse myself from that position in this particular lawsuit."
The Bill Nunn Memorial Award is described by the Pro Football Hall of Fame as "given to a reporter who has made a long and distinguished contribution to pro football through coverage. The award is named for Nunn, who prior to his Hall of Fame scouting career with the Pittsburgh Steelers worked for 22 years at the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the most influential black publications in the United States."
Brian Flores lawsuit: Why is the former Dolphins head coach suing the league?
He brought the lawsuit after his firing from the Miami Dolphins, a team he coached for three years and led a rebuilding process but never made it to the playoffs.
In the lawsuit, Flores said he was persuaded by Dolphins owner Stephen Ross to purposely lose games to tank and get a better draft pick. He got $100,000 for every loss in the 2019 season.
Flores was also pressured to recruit Tom Brady to Miami while violating league rules about tampering. He refused to do so and was then derided until his firing after the 2021 season.