Steve Wilks lawsuit against NFL

football karma

Michael snuggles the cap space
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Posts
15,246
Reaction score
14,310
Am I missing something? Flores too also got a multi million dollar head coaching job?

after his Dolphins job -- he was interviewed by multiple teams and wasnt offered the job. If what he alleges is true, he likely has a claim against those teams.

it will then come down to determining the facts of the case if he wins his claim
 

Chris_Sanders

Not Always The Best Moderator
Super Moderator
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2002
Posts
40,179
Reaction score
31,714
Location
Scottsdale, Az
I called this months ago. Micheal keeping Keim after a DUI would be his downfall

You not only held the white guy to a different standard in regards to the season, you excused an egregious embarrassment to the organization that has gotten multiple players cut.
 

Jetstream Green

Kool Aid with a touch of vodka
Joined
Feb 5, 2003
Posts
29,477
Reaction score
16,651
Location
San Antonio, Texas
I’m glad Wilks is no longer HC.

I don’t think his firing was racist. (Gazing into the future thru Wilks colored glasses was like having a brick wall for a windshield).

I think there is racism the NFL in all shapes and sizes. Just not on the Cardinals (We’ve got plenty of other problems).

It’s probably in my DNA to keep my antennae on the lookout for even the slight hints of racism. But if there is a problem, on the Cardinals, I just don’t see it.
Did you really have to use the word DNA lol
 

Shane

Comin for you!
Super Moderator
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
May 13, 2002
Posts
69,119
Reaction score
39,123
Location
Las Vegas
I called this months ago. Micheal keeping Keim after a DUI would be his downfall

You not only held the white guy to a different standard in regards to the season, you excused an egregious embarrassment to the organization that has gotten multiple players cut.
Ehhh still in no way shape or form makes it a “race based” or “racist” firing.
 

Shane

Comin for you!
Super Moderator
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
May 13, 2002
Posts
69,119
Reaction score
39,123
Location
Las Vegas
after his Dolphins job -- he was interviewed by multiple teams and wasnt offered the job. If what he alleges is true, he likely has a claim against those teams.

it will then come down to determining the facts of the case if he wins his claim
So now because one team fired you and others still chose to interview you even though you were recently fired? Even though said organization with you only had a 24-25 record in 3 seasons. But you didn’t catch another job then it must be racism? Am I missing something?
 

Dr. Jones

Has No Time For Love
Joined
Nov 2, 2004
Posts
27,409
Reaction score
16,283
That may have been the worst team we have seen this century in the valley.

3-4 to 4-3. Sammy Bradford. The DC he took from Rivera. The story about him meeting Keim or Bidwill on a beach in the Carolinas. His opening presser promising Bidwill he was the right choice.

what a dumpster fire he was.

Still though. MB isn’t a racist. Dumb as all get out? Maybe. Loyal to his butt buddy Keim? Sure. An owner who doesn’t run a winning franchise? Sure. But not racist.
 

Solar7

Go Suns
Joined
May 18, 2002
Posts
11,172
Reaction score
12,108
Location
Las Vegas, NV
So now because one team fired you and others still chose to interview you even though you were recently fired? Even though said organization with you only had a 24-25 record in 3 seasons. But you didn’t catch another job then it must be racism? Am I missing something?
I'm with you to some degree here. It's not like Mike Tomlin getting released from the Steelers and being passed over for opportunities.

Had he been released from his contract with the Dolphins for reasons focused on racial issues (say, supporting BLM), maybe it would be more relevant, and that would be very valid to litigate. Ray Horton and Wilks pushing a racial bias seems less relevant from the outside looking in. As has been mentioned... we're one of the leading teams in hiring people of color in leading roles, and through the organization.
 

Big D

...and STILL...
Joined
Dec 9, 2004
Posts
817
Reaction score
381
Location
Chandler
Well absent the smoking gun of say the Donald Sterling tapes I think it’s pretty much impossible to actually prove institutional racism exists in pro sports in a court of law.

But any honest, reasonable person with an open mind and two eyes can look at the landscape of the head coaching opportunities in the NFL, the actual numbers (ie facts), and in this particular instance the optics of what transpired within the organization just before and just after Wilks’ hiring/firing and it’s pretty clear that the white guys are afforded and many times extended opportunities that the black guys simply do not get.

Does it mean race was the #1 motivational factor in each of those decisions? No. At the same time if you choose to stick your head in the sand and deny that any type of racial component exists in these situations you either aren’t seeing the whole picture or you’re refusing to acknowledge the elephant in the room. This stuff needs to be brought up and discussed otherwise the status quo will remain the status quo.
 

Cardinal

All Star
Joined
Sep 21, 2018
Posts
639
Reaction score
731
Location
State Farm Stadium
That may have been the worst team we have seen this century in the valley.

3-4 to 4-3. Sammy Bradford. The DC he took from Rivera. The story about him meeting Keim or Bidwill on a beach in the Carolinas. His opening presser promising Bidwill he was the right choice.

what a dumpster fire he was.

Still though. MB isn’t a racist. Dumb as all get out? Maybe. Loyal to his butt buddy Keim? Sure. An owner who doesn’t run a winning franchise? Sure. But not racist.

Butt Buddy Keim! I said the exact same after watching the All or Nothing season. Keim ain’t going anywhere as long as Mike is in charge.
 

jf-08

chohan
Administrator
Super Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
May 15, 2002
Posts
27,883
Reaction score
23,696
Location
Eye in the Sky
So now because one team fired you and others still chose to interview you even though you were recently fired? Even though said organization with you only had a 24-25 record in 3 seasons. But you didn’t catch another job then it must be racism? Am I missing something?
I think part of the lawsuit is that Flores was set to interview with the Giants and even before he got a chance to interview, Belichick congratulated him on the job, but Bill sent it to Flores instead of Daboll, for which it was intended.

So Flores' issue is that he was set to interview for the Giants head job per Rooney Rule, but the interview was just a farce because the Giants hired Daboll without adhering to the Rooney Rule but still intended to interview Flores AFTER already deciding on Daboll just to satisfy the RR.

Hopefully this makes sense.

 

Cardinal

All Star
Joined
Sep 21, 2018
Posts
639
Reaction score
731
Location
State Farm Stadium
I think part of the lawsuit is that Flores was set to interview with the Giants and even before he got a chance to interview, Belichick congratulated him on the job, but Bill sent it to Flores instead of Daboll, for which it was intended.

So Flores' issue is that he was set to interview for the Giants head job per Rooney Rule, but the interview was just a farce because the Giants hired Daboll without adhering to the Rooney Rule but still intended to interview Flores AFTER already deciding on Daboll just to satisfy the RR.

Hopefully this makes sense.


This happens in every industry. An employer wants to hire someone they know, but needs to formally conduct a series of interviews with different candidates for HR purposes.

These NFL coaches are just so out of touch with normal jobs that they think their situation is special.

They should be arguing that the Rooney Rule is the main reason these sham interviews are even taking place. It’s the rule that’s the problem. The Giants were just dumb enough to get the order of interviews wrong.
 

az jam

ASFN Icon
Joined
Mar 6, 2004
Posts
12,989
Reaction score
5,215
Location
Scottsdale, AZ
That may have been the worst team we have seen this century in the valley.

3-4 to 4-3. Sammy Bradford. The DC he took from Rivera. The story about him meeting Keim or Bidwill on a beach in the Carolinas. His opening presser promising Bidwill he was the right choice.

what a dumpster fire he was.

Still though. MB isn’t a racist. Dumb as all get out? Maybe. Loyal to his butt buddy Keim? Sure. An owner who doesn’t run a winning franchise? Sure. But not racist.
Agree, I also don't feel Keim is a racist. Both Quentin Harris and Adrian Wilson are Afro-Americans and VPs over player personnel. Whether you like MB or Keim is a different story but I just don't see the organization being racist.
 

Chris_Sanders

Not Always The Best Moderator
Super Moderator
Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
Sep 14, 2002
Posts
40,179
Reaction score
31,714
Location
Scottsdale, Az
Ehhh still in no way shape or form makes it a “race based” or “racist” firing.

You can't have different standards as an owner or CEO especially when it involves a protected class.
 

Russ Smith

The Original Whizzinator
Supporting Member
Joined
May 14, 2002
Posts
87,700
Reaction score
39,014
I don’t agree with Wilks in this specific case but I agree with the overall sentiment of the allegation.

It does add another perspective for how terrible of a decision keeping Keim past that point and then extending him is.

That's where I am I think there are clear cases, Detroit and Miami most recently, where African American coaches were essentially set up to be on losing teams get a high pick then get fired so they can hire another coach. I don't think that's what happened to Wilks. I think he joined on to other lawsuits that suggested that but the one he's filed apparently doesn't allege that or if it does I missed it he is more saying I had to win with a rookie Rosen if I had a rookie Murray I would have won.

I don't think we would have and I think the difference was obvious, the offense that year got worse all year, QB's changed, OL, WR's the talent got less all year but we never saw any signs even after the OC was gone that there was a fix on the way. There was no hope that the offense was going to be appreciably better the next year.

With Kliff as many issues as I do have with him you could see as the year went on Kliff was figuring things out, he changed from all the 4 WR sets to multi TE sets. He figured out he could run the ball etc. Murray had some struggles later in the year but he showed progress, you could see there was hope for improvement, none was evident with Wilks.

But I do think there's a double standard in that Keim did a horrible job building that team and didn't lose his job over it
 

JeffGollin

ASFN Icon
Joined
May 14, 2002
Posts
20,472
Reaction score
3,056
Location
Holmdel, NJ
My reference to “DNA” was made without (according to some posters) knowing that Wilks consistently leaned on that term.
 

RON_IN_OC

https://www.ronevansrealty.com
Joined
Mar 10, 2004
Posts
27,185
Reaction score
35,682
Location
BirdGangThing
Butt Buddy Keim! I said the exact same after watching the All or Nothing season. Keim ain’t going anywhere as long as Mike is in charge.
Kevin is to Mike B, what Goodell is to the NFL (32 owners). Sure he's got some influence on decision making, but he's really there to take heat and be an ownership buffer....and paid well for it.
 

tnmike

Hall of Famer
Joined
Oct 22, 2006
Posts
1,397
Reaction score
1,535
Location
Nashville, TN
I think the optics are awful for the Cards and this has an excellent chance of being ruled in favor of Wilks, even though the numbers and performance on the field support his termination. This is on top of the team keeping Keim after poor personnel moves and his DUI
Appearances don't count when the law is concerned.
 
Joined
Aug 7, 2008
Posts
10,461
Reaction score
7,416
Location
Chandler
But it’s not the bottom line. It’s your bottom line, but multiple posters disagreed with you and thought five years was a pretty big extension.

And I’m not trying make something out of a difference of opinion. The problem is that by throwing out a baseless and never mentioned or implied “one year comment”, you are projecting a different opinion than the one currently being discussed. That is a straw man argument. It’s as simple as that.
Trying to make something out of nothing again. I get it. You can't stand someone having a different opinion than you. I said it's not like coaches get signed to a one year contract like players which is true is not? Nothing baseless about it. Please explain if you think it is baseless. I would say on average they get 3 years would you agree? Probably not. 5 may be above average but it's not MASSIVE in my opinion. That is all. Have a good day!
 

Cheesebeef

ASFN IDOL
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2003
Posts
91,471
Reaction score
68,716
Trying to make something out of nothing again. I get it. You can't stand someone having a different opinion than you. I said it's not like coaches get signed to a one year contract like players which is true is not? Nothing baseless about it. Please explain if you think it is baseless. I would say on average they get 3 years would you agree? Probably not. 5 may be above average but it's not MASSIVE in my opinion. That is all. Have a good day!
Huh? I’m fine with a different opinion. I’ve argued against yours and stated why I think you bringing 1 year deals up is a total non-sequitir meant to shift the argument to one no one made. Why you’ve decided to get personal here is beyond me but so be it.
 

PDXChris

All In!
Supporting Member
Banned from P+R
Joined
Mar 28, 2003
Posts
31,422
Reaction score
28,087
Location
Nowhere
To recap since most everyone is saying the same thing!

1. Keim sucked and should have been fired too along with Wilks.
2. Wilks firing was justified, even with a bad roster.
3. Flores' Lawsuit overall has merit.
4. Horton's allegations might or might not have merit.
5. The optics of the roster and keeping Keim look bad on the surface, but race had zero factor.
6. Wilks didn't want Rosen and apparently wanted Allen. Was upset that we stayed put, even though we didn't. We traded up for Rosen and there was chatter was tried to trade up further at one point.

Did I get it right?
 
Top