Tom Flores is one of the most beloved head coaches in the NFL.
While some head coaches tend to quickly get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, that wasn’t the case for Tom Flores.
Considering his stats and the barriers he broke, you may wonder if he ever joined the Hall of Fame at all.
Here’s what you need to know about Tom Flores and whether he got into the Hall of Fame or not.
Is Tom Flores In The Hall Of Fame?
Tom Flores is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
He was part of the 2021 Class.
The honor came 27 years after the last game that he coached.
During his speech upon receiving the honor, Flores joked that he was early in the schedule because he was old and had an early bedtime.
Although the wait was quite long, Flores finally got the honor and recognition that he deserved.
Why Did It Take So Long For Tom Flores To Get Into The Hall Of Fame?
Tom Flores had been waiting a long time to get into the Hall of Fame.
His fans also waited as decade after decade passed, and he still wasn’t inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Here are a few reasons why it may have taken so long to give Flores the honor that he deserved.
1. Wait Period
The Pro Football Hall of Fame has a few requirements that players, coaches, and other football-related positions need to meet.
One of those requirements is retirement.
The individual has to have retired for at least five years before they become eligible for the Hall of Fame.
This is likely to ensure that the individual doesn’t decide to come back out of retirement.
If they do, they’re not eligible to get into the Hall of Fame because they’re still gaining new stats.
Flores wasn’t able to get into the Hall of Fame initially because he hadn’t reached five years of retirement yet.
However, as the decades passed, it became clear that he had more than passed this particular eligibility requirement.
If the Pro Football Hall of Fame voters were using this as an excuse not to choose him, they were incorrect.
He had been retired for several decades before he finally got into the Hall of Fame.
2. Forgotten
Flores, himself, wonders if the NFL had forgotten him and that’s why he hadn’t received an invitation to join the Hall of Fame.
In the NFL, things move at lightning pace.
There are always players leaving and coming.
While coaches tend to remain a little longer, a lot of attention tends to go to the new coach rather than the old coach.
That’s because the old coach is no longer associated with the team.
They’re not doing anything that’s going to help the team win that season.
Like all types of reporting, sports reporting prefers to cover exciting news.
A new coach is more exciting than an old coach because no one knows how the new coach is going to perform.
No one knows how they’re going to compare to the old coach.
As such, a lot of attention goes to the new coaches while the old coaches tend to fall out of the spotlight.
It used to be, too, that older coaches simply retired and lived private lives.
These days, with more sports shows, older coaches can get gigs as talk show hosts.
They remain in the spotlight even if they’re no longer playing the game.
That sort of thing didn’t come about during a time in which Flores might have had an interest.
He was already quite old when coaches started to take up positions as talk show hosts.
As such, once he was out of the spotlight, he mostly remained there.
Flores also wonders if it had anything to do with being a minority.
Whether there’s some truth to that or not, the fact that the Pro Football Hall of Fame may have forgotten him might be a reason why it took so long for him to get into the Hall of Fame.
3. Older Coaches
A final reason why it may have taken a long time to get Flores into the Hall of Fame is because of older coaches.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame committee tries to induct players and coaches while they’re alive.
That allows them the opportunity to walk the stage and receive their gold coat in front of tons of people.
They’re able to give a speech and take part in the festivities.
To ensure they’re able to honor all the coaches and players who qualify, they have to move quickly.
They’re only able to induct so many people into the Hall of Fame each year.
Because of that, a lot of players and coaches end up getting pushed back.
The problem with this is that the pool of players and coaches that they select from first needs to get a vote.
A fan might nominate a particular coach or player, but someone within the selection committee has to vote for them.
If someone got passed over the first time and no one voted for them the following year, there’s a chance that they’re not going to make it as an inductee that year.
This means some people might get pushed to the next year over and over.
This also creates a problem because players and coaches are getting older.
There’s pressure on the Pro Football Hall of Fame to induct certain players and coaches before they die.
The reason that Flores might not have gotten into the Hall of Fame as quickly as he should have is that there were players and coaches ahead of him who were getting old.
The Hall of Fame wanted to ensure that they were able to get those individuals into the Hall of Fame before they died.
With only a certain number of players and coaches able to get in each year, it essentially creates a bottleneck.
It may have taken Flores a long time to get into the Hall of Fame because there were older players and coaches ahead of him waiting to get in.
Who Inducted Tom Flores Into The Hall Of Fame?
One of the most special parts of the Hall of Fame ceremony is having the inductee get inducted by someone special.
They’re often able to choose the person who inducts them.
Flores chose Carol Davis as the person to present him at the Hall of Fame.
Carol Davis is the widow of Al Davis.
Davis was the owner of the Raiders both when Flores was a player and a coach.
Unfortunately, Davis passed away.
His wife, Carol, was Flores’ second choice.
Carol presented Tom Flores on a pre-taped video, and her son, Mark Davis, presented Flores in person.
Did Tom Flores Win A Super Bowl As A Player?
Yes, Tom Flores has won a Super Bowl as a player.
Before he became head coach, Flores started his career in the NFL as a quarterback.
He played for the Oakland Raiders.
While he was a quarterback, he eventually got traded to the Buffalo Bills and then the Kansas City Chiefs.
During his time with the Chiefs, he played as a backup quarterback.
It was with the Chiefs that he won a Super Bowl as part of the team.
Flores would later make history by also winning Super Bowls as an assistant head coach and a head coach.
Only he and Mike Ditka have the honor of being people who have won Super Bowls as players, assistant coaches, and head coaches.
As an assistant coach, Flores worked for both the Buffalo Bills and Oakland Raiders.
He was also an assistant to John Madden and won a Super Bowl as part of his team.
When he eventually became the head coach of the Oakland Raiders, he led the team to a Super Bowl victory.
The team changed its name to the Los Angeles Raiders after it moved to Los Angeles.
Despite the name change, Flores coached the team to a second Super Bowl win soon after.
Flores eventually coached the Seattle Seahawks, but he didn’t find the same success there as he had with the Raiders.
He eventually retired.
With three Super Bowl wins under his belt, Flores is one of only two men who were able to win a championship as a player, assistant coach, and head coach.
How Long Did Tom Flores Coach The Raiders?
Flores and the Raiders are often linked together despite Flores also having ties to the Buffalo Bills and the Seattle Seahawks.
He played for the team for a few years, but he also coached them for quite a few years.
Tom Flores was the head coach of the Raiders between the years 1980 and 1987.
During that time, he won two Super Bowls with them.
He also won 83 games.
Overall, Flores has a playoff win percentage of 72.7%.
He had a total of 105 wins to his name.
That’s not bad for someone who has only coached in the NFL for 12 years.
What Awards Did Tom Flores Win?
Besides winning two Super Bowls, Tom Flores also received two great honors in his life.
The first was the AFC Coach of the Year award.
He won it in 1982.
The award essentially goes to the coach who showed outstanding leadership.
The second great honor was entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Only the best of the best can get into the Hall of Fame.
With Flores’ career, it was only a matter of time before he was able to get into it.
Although it took a long time to get there, Flores was finally inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2021.
His name and contributions to the sport shall forever be remembered by NFL fans.
Who Was The First Mexican Quarterback In The NFL?
While Flores wasn’t the first Mexican player to play in the NFL, he was the first Mexican starting quarterback in the NFL.
Tom Flores was a first in a few cases.
One of those firsts was being the first Mexican starting quarterback in the NFL.
He played for the Oakland Raiders at the time.
Flores stated that he didn’t believe the Raiders had chosen him because he was Mexican or because they wanted to break barriers.
They chose him because he had the skills that they were looking for.
Besides being the first Mexican starting quarterback in the NFL, Flores also became the first Mexican coach to win a Super Bowl.
He broke barriers without even meaning to.
Who Was The First Latino Head Coach In The NFL?
Tom Flores was the first Latino head coach in the NFL.
When he signed on to become the head coach of the Oakland Raiders, he was making history.
Flores would also make history as being the first Latino head coach to win a Super Bowl.
That was on top of being the first Latino starting quarterback in the NFL.
Tom Flores clearly became many of the NFL’s firsts.
How Many People Get Into The Pro Football Hall Of Fame Each Year?
Considering how long it took Tom Flores to get into the Hall of Fame, you may wonder how many people get inducted each year.
While there isn’t technically a set number, the committee does try to keep the number of inductees between four and eight.
Having too few inductees means that the Hall of Fame ceremony won’t be that big.
Instead, if only one person became inducted that year, it’d be all about them.
While that isn’t necessarily a bad thing and might be something that the Pro Football Hall of Fame committee chooses to do on occasion, it doesn’t help the big backlog of players and coaches waiting to get into the Hall of Fame.
They also don’t have too many inductees because that means there’s less time to honor each person.
When you have too many inductees, the amount of time spent honoring each person gets cut down.
The ceremony only lasts for a few hours. Each inductee should be able to have their time in the spotlight.
They shouldn’t have to worry about having cut speeches because they don’t have a lot of time in the spotlight.
That goes against what the Pro Football Hall of Fame is all about.
It’s about honoring each player or coach and their contributions to the sport.
As such, the Pro Football Hall of Fame tries to keep the number of inductees between four and eight each year.
What Are The Benefits Of Being In The Pro Football Hall Of Fame?
Considering how many people want to get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, you may wonder what the big deal is.
What are the benefits of getting into the Hall of Fame?
While there aren’t any monetary benefits to joining the Hall of Fame, there are two main benefits.
Players and coaches who get into the Hall of Fame get the benefits of recognition and immortality.
The Hall of Fame ceremony is all about recognizing that player or coach for their contributions.
As a player or coach, it’s a chance to get recognized for the hard work you put into the game.
As for immortality, getting into the Hall of Fame means that players and coaches in the future will remember you.
Fans will remember you.
Your name and contributions are going to be part of the Hall of Fame museum forever.
Conclusion
Tom Flores waited several decades before finally getting into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
He got inducted in 2021.
His talent as a coach and the barriers he broke cemented his place in the Hall of Fame.
NEXT: Do Colleges Look At Attendance? (Explained)