Shortly after news broke of Brian Flores's class-action lawsuit against the NFL and three teams for racist hiring practices, the league released a statement asserting its commitment to diversity and called the former Dolphins coach's claims "without merit."
"The NFL and our clubs are deeply committed to ensuring equitable employment practices and continue to make progress in providing equitable opportunities throughout our organizations," the statement read. "Diversity is core to everything we do, and there are few issues on which our clubs and our internal leadership team spend more time. We will defend against these claims, which are without merit.