Goodell addresses Flores' lawsuit with civil rights leaders

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell addresses Brian Flores' lawsuit in pre-Super Bowl address

By Chelena Goldman | Last updated 2/9/22

There was no way Roger Goodell was going to get through his pre-Super Bowl address to the media without acknowledging the bombshell lawsuit former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores filed last week.

Flores rocked the sports world with a lawsuit against the league and multiple teams last week which he alleges racial discrimination plays a heavy role in the coach-hiring process and adds that he was asked to purposely lose games — commonly called "tanking" — during his tenure with the Dolphins.

"We won't tolerate racism," Goodell said, via ESPN. "We won't tolerate discrimination. If there are policies that we need to modify, we're going to do that. If we've seen evidence of discrimination, we will deal with that in a very serious way that will reflect the fact that we won't tolerate that."

Goodell added that he and NFL higher-ups met with civil rights leaders earlier in the week to help address the league's issues with racial discrimination.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and senior league staff met virtually for an hour Monday with civil rights leaders — including Rev. Al Sharpton — who called for the replacement of the Rooney Rule in light of ongoing racial disparities in hiring.

Statement from @NFLprguy: pic.twitter.com/e37VMUggeP
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 8, 2022

While Goodell maintained the NFL can't instantly determine if and how the process is flawed, he did acknowledge the league is "not doing a good enough job'' in terms of hiring a diverse range of personnel across the NFL.

Goodell also said that the allegations of owners telling coaches to tank will be "taken seriously."

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says he found all of the allegations in the Brian Flores lawsuit “very disturbing.” “Integrity of the game is very important.” Goodell says when he knows the facts about alleged tanking, “We’ll deal with it very seriously.”
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 9, 2022

Flores was fired by the Dolphins following the conclusion of the 2021 season. He was a coaching candidate for the New York Giants, New Orleans Saints and Houston Texans prior to the lawsuit being filed.

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