There has been a lot of focus on whether Tom Flores, the first Hispanic starting quarterback and the first minority head coach to win a Super Bowl, will be entered into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
It’s something Flores said at a gathering of Latinos that he hopes happens. But when he was honored at the gathering for his impact in the Latino community, it was the dreams of his Mexican grandfather and father that he exalted as the drivers of his historic journey.
The Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (IHCC) congratulates 2021 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Tom Flores.
Coach Flores is a multiple Super Bowl winner and a pioneer who achieved what no other Latino has before him, both on the field and at the helm as president and general manager of an NFL franchise.
Passed over twice to become a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in recent years, Tom Flores will receive his gold jacket and a bust in Canton, Ohio.
Flores, the first Latino starting quarterback and head coach in NFL history, joined seven others as Hall of Fame inductees on the eve of Super Bowl LV.
Flores began playing football when he was in high school in Sanger, California, 190 miles south of Oakland, the city where he would one day make his mark in pro sports history. He went on to play at the University of Pacific in Stockton, California before being recruited to the America Football League in 1960 by the Oakland Raiders. He was starting quarterback in 13 games before suffering a shoulder injury and being released by the team.
In 1970, Flores won his first championship ring as backup quarterback with the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl IV. Following his playing career, Flores returned to the Oakland Raiders as an assistant coach and won another ring in 1977 in Super Bowl XI.
When Coach John Madden retired, Flores became pro football’s first Latino head coach and led the Oakland Raiders to victory in 1981 in Super Bowl XV and the Los Angeles Raiders in Super Bowl XVIII in 1984.
Flores will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio on August 8, 2021