While we wait for the Pro Football Hall of Fame to recognize Tom Flores as a two-time Super Bowl winning NFL head coach, other organizations continue to show him the respect he has earned.
This month, Flores will receive a National Trailblazer Award from the League of United Latin American Citizens, recognizing him as a Latin American trailblazer as well as a philanthropist and community advocate.
Flores was the first ever Hispanic NFL quarterback and the first minority head coach in NFL history. He was also the first to ever win Super Bowls as a player, assistant coach, and head coach — a feat only shared by Mike Ditka.
Having taken over as head coach of the Raiders in 1979, Flores would coach the Raiders to two Super Bowl wins. He is one of just three head coaches in NFL history to have won multiple Super Bowls and not be in the Hall of Fame. Jimmy Johnson and George Seifert are the others.
What these three have in common is they each followed a Hall of Fame head coach — Tom Landry, Bill Walsh, and John Madden respectively. What sets them apart is Flores’s breaking the color barrier both as a player and as a coach. That’s why he is a trailblazer and why he is an ideal recipient for this award.
Others receiving LULAC awards are former President George H.W. Bush along with Dan Rather. Both will be receiving Lifetime Achievement Awards. Rather’s Award is for his work as a Journalist.
The LULAC National Legislative Conference and Awards Gala will be held February 15 at the Grand Hyatt in Washington DC. They celebrate the 88th anniversary of LULAC, which was formed on February 17, 1929.
Proceeds from the LULAC National Legislative Conference and Awards Gala support the important work of the LULAC National Office. This includes LULAC’s policy and legislative advocacy, as well as its organizing of Hispanic communities through the creation of LULAC councils throughout the United States.
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