Tom Flores

Thomas Raymond Flores (born March 21, 1937) played quarterback in the American Football League for nine seasons, mostly for the Oakland Raiders, and later coached in the NFL. After retiring from coaching, he spent over two decades as a radio announcer.

Flores is one of only two people in NFL history—alongside Mike Ditka—to win a Super Bowl as a player, assistant coach, and head coach. He earned a ring as a player with the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl IV, as an assistant coach for the Raiders in Super Bowl XI, and as head coach of the Raiders in Super Bowls XV and XVIII. He was the first Mexican starting quarterback in professional football and the first minority head coach to win a Super Bowl. Though not officially sourced, he is also noted as the only head coach to win a Super Bowl with the same team in two different cities: Oakland (1980) and Los Angeles (1983). Flores was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021 as a head coach.

Flores began his college career at Fresno City College in 1955, where he also served on the Student Council and as President of the Associated Men's Students. He earned an academic scholarship to the College of the Pacific (now University of the Pacific), graduating in 1958 and starting at quarterback for the Tigers. Afterward, he worked as an assistant coach at Pacific while pursuing a master's degree.

His early attempts to break into professional football failed: he was cut by the CFL's Calgary Stampeders in 1958, played semi-pro with the Bakersfield Spoilers, and was cut by the NFL's Washington Redskins in 1959. In 1960, he finally made the Oakland Raiders as a quarterback, becoming the first Hispanic starting quarterback in pro football. His best season came in 1966, when he threw for 2,638 yards and 24 touchdowns. Traded to the Buffalo Bills in 1967, he backed up Jack Kemp and later suffered a shoulder injury that limited his playing time. After brief appearances in 1969, the Bills released him, and he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as a third-stringer behind Len Dawson and Mike Livingston. He retired after not playing in 1970, having been one of only twenty players to appear in all ten seasons of the AFL. He ranks fifth in AFL history in passing yards.

Flores began his coaching career as an assistant in Buffalo and Oakland, winning a Super Bowl XI ring under John Madden. When Madden retired in 1979, owner Al Davis promoted Flores to head coach. In 1980, Flores led the Raiders as a wild card team to a Super Bowl XV victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, making them the first wild card team to win the title and the only team to win four postseason games in one run until Denver matched it in 1997. After the team moved to Los Angeles in 1982, Flores guided them to another Super Bowl win in 1983, beating the Washington Redskins 38–9.

He was named AFC Coach of the Year in 1982 by United Press International and the Football Writers Association. His 83 wins as Raiders head coach rank second in franchise history, behind only Madden. After a 5–10 season in 1987, he moved to the front office for one year before leaving. Flores later said he believed his delayed Hall of Fame induction was due to the "dominating force" of Al Davis.

In 1989, Flores became president and general manager of the Seattle Seahawks. After the 1991 season, he appointed himself head coach. The team went 2–14 in 1992, scoring just 140 points—the lowest total for a 16-game season in NFL history—though defensive tackle Cortez Kennedy won NFL Defensive Player of the Year. The Seahawks went 6–10 in both 1993 and 1994. From 1997 to 2018, Flores served as an announcer for the Raiders Radio Network.