“I owed it to all black NFL coaches to stand with him” Steve Wilks and Ray Horton join Brian Flores’ racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL


“I owed it to all black NFL coaches to stand with him” Steve Wilks and Ray Horton join Brian Flores’ racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL

Brian Flores

In the time since Brian Flores initially filed his lawsuit against the NFL, he has gained the support of many. Most notably now, he has added two plaintiffs in former coaches, Steve Wilks and Ray Horton who are alleging that they were discriminated against by the Arizona Cardinals and Tennesse Titans, respectively.

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The news comes quite soon after Brian Flores added the Houston Texans to his lawsuit. The suit was amended and read “Texans were rightfully concerned that if it hired Mr. McCown over Mr. Flores, it would bolster Mr. Flores’ allegations of systemic discrimination against Black candidates, particularly given that the team had just fired Black Head Coach David Culley after only one season.”

Brian Flores
Brian Flores

Eventually, Houston hired Lovie Smith as their head coach and Flores saw that as a good thing “To be clear, Mr. Smith is more than qualified for the role, and it is a positive thing that another Black Head Coach has been hired by an NFL football team.” But, it alleges that Houston chose not to hire Brian Flores in the first place because of his lawsuit and that he stood against systemic racism in the NFL.

Along with this update came the addition of the two coaches, Steve Wilks and Ray Horton who had pretty ridiculous claims of their own.

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Related: “Won’t back down”: Giants owner John Mara says he is not settling the Brian Flores lawsuit at any cost as all the allegations are completely false

Steve Wilks and Ray Horton add to Brian Flores’ discrimination lawsuit

Steve Wilks
Steve Wilks

Steve Wilks claims that he was discriminated against by the Arizona Cardinals in 2018 when he was their coach and Ray Horton believes the Tennesse Titans discriminated against him in 2016 when he was interviewing for the head coach spot.

In the amended lawsuit, Wilks claims that he was hired only as a ‘bridge’ coach and was never given a fair opportunity to succeed. It reads “Mr. Kingsbury, armed with quarterback Kyler Murray, has been given a much longer leash than Mr. Wilks and, to his credit, has succeeded. That said, Mr. Wilks, given the same opportunity afforded to Mr. Kingsbury, surely would have succeeded as well.”

Wilks was quoted saying “When Coach Flores filed this action, I knew I owed it to myself, and to all Black NFL coaches and aspiring coaches, to stand with him,” he said. “This lawsuit has shed further important light on a problem that we all know exists, but that too few are willing to confront. Black coaches and candidates should have exactly the same ability to become employed, and remain employed, as white coaches and candidates.”

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Brian Flores
Brian Flores

As for Ray Horton, upon hearing that his interview with the Titans was a sham, he was “devastated and humiliated.” He was also quoted saying “By joining this case, I am hoping to turn that experience into a positive and make lasting change and create true equal opportunity in the future.”

As of now, the NFL along with both the Cardinals and Titans haven’t said anything but a statement should be expected. Things are certainly starting to heat up as Brian Flores is making some waves and trying to do what is right.

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