UnidosUS Hails Induction of NFL Legend Tom Flores into Football Hall of Fame

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WASHINGTON, DC—Today UnidosUS (formerly National Council of La Raza), the nation’s Latino civil rights and advocacy organization, praised Hall of Fame CEO David Baker and the Hall of Fame Selectors for naming NFL legend and Latino community icon Tom Flores to the Football Hall of Fame Class of 2021. Latino organizations such as UnidosUS and community activists have been advocates for this long overdue honor for more than a decade, citing Flores’s stellar record of accomplishment and numerous “firsts” in the NFL.

“We congratulate Tom Flores for receiving this great honor. That Tom Flores belongs in the Hall of Fame is undeniable. This son of a Bracero worker rose to become the first Latino pro football quarterback and head coach of color in the NFL. He was the first—and only one of two people—to have won a Super Bowl as a player, assistant coach and head coach. We will always remember the historic Super Bowl 18, when Flores coached the then Oakland Raiders to a victory with Jim Plunkett, also a Latino, as his quarterback. And Flores has devoted his post-football to giving back to his community for which we honored him with the Roberto Clemente Award for Sports Excellence in 2011,” said UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murguía.
“His induction into the Hall of Fame is well deserved, but it is troubling that it took so long. And we would note that Tom Flores is the first Latino coach and only the third Latino overall in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This induction is a very positive step forward in ensuring that the NFL tells the full story of our community’s history in the sport at its shrine in Canton, Ohio,” concluded Murguía.