When former Dolphins coach Brian Flores filed his lawsuit against the NFL and multiple teams in February 2022, the claim of systemic and chronic racial discrimination made it a landmark attack against the league. Flores’s efforts have had, to date, a much more significant impact.
Through a series of rulings during a four-year war over the question of whether the claims of Flores, Steve Wilks, and Ray Horton will be resolved in open court or (as the league strongly prefers) arbitration controlled by the Commissioner, Flores and company have torn down the league’s longstanding method for forcing employee legal claims into a secret, rigged, kangaroo court.
The problem is simple. The league wants civil cases filed against it to be determined not by an independent party but by the league itself. Finally, independent judges with the power to do so are telling the NFL that it cannot do so.
“The court’s decision recognizes that an arbitration forum in which the defendant’s own chief executive gets to decide the case would strip employees of their rights under the law,” attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor and David E. Gottlieb said Friday, after the latest decision scrapping the league’s practices. “It is long overdue for the NFL to recognize this and finally provide a fair, neutral and transparent forum for these issues to be addressed.”
And that’s really the next step. Instead of maintaining its current Hail Mary pass to the U.S. Supreme Court, the NFL should do the right thing and abandon the heavy-handed practice of insisting that lawsuits filed against the league be presided over by the Commissioner.
The Commissioner, who recently defended the practice by saying, essentially, “it was like that when I got here,” shouldn’t want to do it. It’s a hopeless and irreconcilable conflict of interest.
Few if any other companies attempt to stack the deck in such a laughable, third world, banana republic way. Most companies realize it’s more than sufficient to force employees into arbitration handled by one of the various companies (like the American Arbitration Association) that exist for that purpose.
It’s still a much better forum for corporate America than the traditional judge-and-jury process. Especially since the various companies that provide arbitration services tend to skew toward the interests of the businesses that are responsible for creating the system that funnels them so much business.
But that’s not good enough for the NFL. Its longstanding approach to arbitration is proof positive that it wants to completely control anything and everything it can.
Finally, the NFL is losing control over legal claims made by non-players. The consequences sweep far beyond Flores, Wilks, and Horton. Every other team and league employee who is compelled to agree to the arbitration term in their contracts now have a pathway to avoiding a fundamentally unfair and un-American approach to justice.
For that reason, maybe it will be useful for the league to keep pushing its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Assuming that at least five of the nine justices of the highest court in the country see this game for what it is, the end result will be a published opinion that becomes the law of the land as to the league, all of its teams, and every current and future employee who have no choice but to agree to a contract that forces them to allow the Commissioner to have final say over any and all grievances they ever may pursue.
The NFL’s secret, rigged, kangaroo court is on life support.
In the lawsuit filed four years ago by former Dolphins coach Brian Flores, the presiding judge has reversed a prior order sending some of the claims to arbitration. Now, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has concluded that all claims will be litigated in open court.
The ruling means that the Flores claims against the NFL, the Dolphins, the Giants, the Broncos, and the Texans will be handled in court, not arbitration. It also applies to the claims made by Steve Wilks against the Cardinals, and by Ray Horton against the Titans.
Friday’s decision flows from last year’s ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which denied arbitration as to the remaining Flores claims based on the NFL’s insistence that Commissioner Roger Goodell control the process. That same “fatal flaw” (as Judge Valerie Caproni described it) impacts all efforts to compel arbitration.
The league will undoubtedly fight the result. Although Goodell defended the practice during last week’s Super Bowl press conference, it is fundamentally unfair for the person hired and paid by the teams to be resolving legal claims made against his employers. No one in that position can be fair and impartial.
The NFL hates external oversight. It wants to control its business, and it hopes to keep any dirty laundry tightly under wraps.
The league previously filed a petition for appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on the question of whether the arbitration requirement is legitimate. Whatever the final outcome, it’s long overdue that the highest court in the country examine and resolve whether it’s appropriate for any organization to require employees to submit their legal claims not to an independent party but to the boss.
Multiple former NFL players received presidential pardons on Thursday.
Via ESPN.com, White House “pardon czar” Alice Marie Johnson announced Thursday that President Trump gave pardons to defensive tackle Joe Klecko, offensive lineman Nate Newton, running back Jamal Lewis, running back Travis Henry, and halfback/fullback/tight end Billy Cannon.
None were currently incarcerated; Cannon died in 2018.
“As football reminds us, excellence is built on grit, grace, and the courage to rise again,” Johnson wrote on social media. “So is our nation.”
Klecko, a Hall of Famer, played 11 years for the Jets and one with the Colts. Via ESPN.com, he pleaded guilty to perjury in 1993 for lying to a federal grand jury investigating insurance fraud.
Newton spent 13 years with the Cowboys and one with the Panthers. The six-time Pro Bowler and two-time first-team All-Pro pleaded guilty, per ESPN.com, to federal a drug trafficking charge in 2002, after police found $10,000 in his truck — along with 175 pounds of marijuana in car driven by an accomplice.
Johnson said Newton, who won three Super Bowls with the Cowboys, “personally” got the news from owner Jerry Jones.
Lewis spent six years with the Ravens and three with the Browns. He was the 2003 AP offensive player of the year, after rushing for 2,066 yards. Lewis had seven 1,000-yard seasons. Per ESPN.com, he pleaded guilty after using a cell phone to set up a drug deal, not long after he arrived in the NFL as the fifth overall pick in the draft.
Henry played seven years in the NFL, with the Bills, Titans, and Broncos. He pleaded guilty in 2009 for conspiracy to traffic cocaine, per ESPN.com.
Cannon won the Heisman Trophy in 1959 before spending a decade in the AFL and one year in the NFL. Via ESPN.com, Cannon pleaded guilty to counterfeiting in the 1980s.
No reasoning was given for the decision to grant the pardons.
The Titans finalized their coaching staff under head coach Robert Saleh, the team announced Thursday.
In addition to Saleh, the coaching staff consists of 14 other new additions with eight others returning from last season.
Previously, the Titans announced their three coordinators — Brian Daboll (offensive coordinator), Gus Bradley (defensive coordinator), and John Fassel (special teams coordinator).
Fassel also has assistant head coach as part of his title.
Here’s a look at the complete staff:
Robert Saleh: Head Coach
Gus Bradley: Defensive Coordinator
Brian Daboll: Offensive Coordinator
*John Fassel: Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator
*Ben Bloom: Senior Defensive Assistant
Dave Borgonzi: Linebackers
Carmen Bricillo: Offensive Line
*Trevor Browder: Offensive Assistant
Dalton Hilliard: Defensive Backs/Nickels
*Randy Jordan: Running Backs/Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship Coordinator
Cade Knox: Offensive Assistant/Game Management
Greg Lewis: Wide Receivers
Marquand Manuel: Defensive Backs/Safeties
*Tony Oden: Pass Game Coordinator/Cornerbacks
John Rudnicki: Offensive Assistant
Ahmed Saleh: Defensive Assistant
*Travis Smith: Senior Defensive Assistant/Pass Rush Specialist
*Rayna Stewart: Assistant Special Teams
*Luke Stocker: Tight Ends
Shea Tierney: Quarterbacks
Aaron Whitecotton: Defensive Line
Isaac Williams: Assistant Offensive Line
Rob Dadona: Chief of Staff
* indicates returning member of the coaching staff
Mike McCoy is headed back to the AFC West.
Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, the Raiders are hiring McCoy as assistant head coach.
McCoy, 53, was added to the Titans staff as senior offensive assistant in early 2025. But he then took over as interim head coach after Brian Callan was fired in October.
The Titans went 2-9 under McCoy over the rest of the season.
McCoy was previously the Chargers’ head coach for their final years in San Diego from 2013-2016. He recorded a 27-37 regular-season record with a 1-1 postseason record.
Since then, he’s been the Broncos offensive coordinator, Cardinals offensive coordinator, and Jaguars quarterbacks coach.
