Flores’ NFL lawsuit can go to trial PIC 1
BRIAN FLORES: Defensive coordinator Brian Flores looks on during the second quarter of a game against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field in Seattle on Dec. 22, 2024. Steph Chambers/Getty Images/Tribune News Service
Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores can take his discrimination cases against the NFL, New York Giants, Denver Broncos and Houston Texans to federal court before a jury, a federal appeals court reaffirmed Thursday.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a March 2023 ruling by U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni that rejected the NFL’s attempt to force Flores’ civil claims into arbitration overseen by league commissioner Roger Goodell.
The decision, written by Circuit Judge Jose A. Cabranes, said the NFL constitution’s arbitration provision “contractually provides for no independent arbitral forum, no bilateral dispute resolution, and no procedure.”
“Instead, it offends basic presumptions of our arbitration jurisprudence” by requiring claims to be decided by the NFL’s “principal executive officer,” the appeals court said.
Attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor, David E. Gottlieb and John Elefterakis said “the significance of the 2nd Circuit’s decision cannot be overstated.”
“For too long, the NFL has relied on a fundamentally biased and unfair arbitration process, even in cases involving serious claims of discrimination,” the attorneys said. “This ruling sends a clear message: That practice must end. This is a victory not only for NFL employees, but for workers across the country, and for anyone who believes in transparency, accountability and justice.”
NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy said, “We respectfully disagree with the panel’s ruling, and will be seeking further review.”
The NFL is having a difficult week in court. The Nevada Supreme Court also ruled against the league’s effort to force former coach Jon Gruden’s claims against the NFL and Goodell into arbitration.
Flores originally sued the NFL and several teams in February 2022, alleging the league was “rife with racism,” particularly in its hiring and promotion of Black coaches. Two other coaches later joined the lawsuit, which sought to proceed as a class action, but Caproni ruled their claims could go to arbitration based on the language in contracts they signed with teams.
Specific to the Giants, Flores’ lawsuit alleges the team gave him a sham interview for its head coaching vacancy in January 2022 before announcing Brian Daboll as head coach.
Flores claims that then–Patriots head coach Bill Belichick sent him a text message two days before his Giants interview that was intended for Daboll, reading: “I hear from Buffalo and NYG that you are their guy.”
Giants co-owner John Mara said “the allegations are false” in March 2022 at the NFL owners meetings in Palm Beach, Fla.
“We’re very comfortable with our hiring process, and it was a fair process, and we ended up making the decision we made based on a lot of factors, none of which had to do with race,” Mara said in 2022.
Mara also said no one from the Giants, including himself, had spoken to Belichick about the hiring process.
“I haven’t spoken or communicated with Bill since we played them in the preseason last summer,” Mara said in 2022, “and to my knowledge, nobody in our organization communicated with him.”
Rich Hernandez is the Giants’ current senior vice president and general counsel. He was promoted to replace former general counsel William Heller in March 2023.
Chiefs’ Rashee Rice will be available PIC 1
RASHEE RICE: Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice (4) waits between drills during training camp at Missouri Western State University on July 28 in St. Joseph, Mo. Emily Curiel/Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service
From the Chiefs’ perspective, there seems to be little doubt that receiver Rashee Rice will be punished by the NFL for his role in a March 2024 six-car crash on a Dallas freeway. The question is how long the suspension will last.
Any NFL punishment apparently will not come for at least six weeks. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Thursday that Rice should be available to play in the Chiefs’ first four games.
Last month, a Dallas judge sentenced Rice to 30 days in jail and five years probation for the crash. The NFL said at the time it was monitoring the situation.
Schefter reported that Rice is expected to have a disciplinary hearing with the NFL on Sept. 30 in New York, which would make him available to play through a key part of the Chiefs’ schedule.
The team opens the season against AFC West rival Chargers in Brazil on Sept. 5, followed by a Super Bowl rematch with the Eagles on Sept. 14 at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, a Sept. 21 game at the Giants and a home meeting with the Ravens on Sept. 28.
At training camp at Missouri Western, Rice was asked about the possibility of a suspension and how he is preparing for the season.
“I’m locked in,” Rice said. “This is what I do. This is my job. This is what I love to do. So, even when I’m not able to be out there with my team, I’m gonna still be working as hard as I can so I can be back out there with them as soon as possible.”
Rice, 25, is returning from a knee injury that limited him to four games in the 2024 season. He caught 24 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns before being injured early in a game against the Chargers.
Dodgers' failure to improve their bullpen PIC 1
BLUE-BITER: Los Angeles Dodgers relief pitcher Edgardo Henriquez bites his glove as he walks off the mound after giving up the go-ahead run on a two-RBI single to Logan O’Hoppe in the eighth inning at Angel Stadium on Wednesday in Anaheim, Calif. The Angels won 6-5. Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service
In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened.
The Dodgers have dropped out of first place.
The team expected to win 120 games has fallen a game behind the San Diego Padres in the National League West, and who knows how much further baseball’s most expensive collection of players could plummet?
The front office improved the farm system more than the bullpen at the trade deadline, leading to blown lead after blown lead.
Games have become “Choose Your Own Adventure” books in which every option available to manager Dave Roberts ends in disaster, with relievers giving up leads in four of the team’s last seven games.
The recent activation of Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell has made the starting rotation whole, but what does it matter if the bullpen can’t close out games?
Mookie Betts has started hitting and the offense has picked up, but what does it matter if the relievers give the runs right back?
President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told reporters the bullpen could look significantly different by the playoffs with the anticipated returns of Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates and Michael Kopech. He could be right.
However, there’s no chance of that transformation occurring in the next 10 days, which could be the most important of the regular season. The Dodgers will play the Padres six times in that span - three at Dodger Stadium this weekend and three at Petco Park in San Diego next weekend.
The Padres have won 14 of their last 17 games to overtake the Dodgers, who led them by nine games on July 3. While the Dodgers were relatively inactive at the trade deadline, the Padres fortified a lineup powered by Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. and bolstered the league’s No. 1 bullpen with Mason Miller, the top reliever on the market.
The Dodgers also have momentum - but of a different kind. When their starting pitcher leaves, a collapse feels inevitable.
That was the case Wednesday when Shohei Ohtani was removed from the game against the Angels with a 5-4 lead. Why wouldn’t there be a sense of impending doom with the ball in the hands of Justin Wrobleski and Edgardo Henriquez?
Wrobleski and Henriquez combined to give up two runs in the eighth inning, and the Angels went on to complete their three-game sweep.
If they had protected the lead, who would have pitched the ninth?
Roberts: “Umm …”
The manager eventually named Alexis Díaz, whom the Cincinnati Reds demoted to the minors before trading him to the Dodgers.
Roberts said Blake Treinen was unavailable because he’d pitched in three of the last five games. Another possible reason Roberts didn’t mention: Treinen, who returned from the injured list about two weeks ago, has a 4.26 ERA.
The blown lead Wednesday was the Dodgers’ second in as many days. Alex Vesia gave up a tying run in the ninth Tuesday, and Ben Casparius lost the game in the 10th.
“It’s something that we’re really not accustomed to, to be quite honest,” Roberts said.
The bullpen played a major role in last year’s championship. That seems like a remote possibility this year. Even if Scott and Yates return, what are the chances they pitch well when the high-priced free agents haven’t for most of the season?
And say the bullpen comes together as Friedman envisions. Where will the Dodgers be in the standings? They have the fifth-best record in the NL, and only two teams receive first-round byes.
After Wednesday’s loss, Roberts sat in the visiting manager’s office at Angel Stadium. A bottle of wine sat on the desk in front of him.
“It’s a gift,” Roberts said. “I haven’t opened it yet.”
He didn’t discount the idea. Asked if he could drink the entire bottle that night, Roberts forced a smile.
“Possibility,” he said.