No Pro Football of Fame, but Fresno brewer will toast to former Raiders coach Tom Flores anyways
Tom Flores has been conspicuously passed over for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, so a Fresno brewery is doing what it can to recognize the local hero.
Tioga-Sequoia Brewing Company will honor Flores with a FresYes Fest tribute beer.
The lime-flavored beer will come in a can emblazoned with No. 15 (Flores’ jersey number in his playing days), a football and the words “FresYes Hall of Famer Tom Flores.”
“He’s still waiting for a much-deserved call from Canton, which we all thought was coming in December,” Tioga-Sequoia says in a Facebook post.
Tioga Sequoia says Flores will be in attendance to meet with fans.
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FresYes Fest 2020 is March 21. – Flores’ 83rd birthday. The annual block party in downtown Fresno, stretching along Fulton Street between Mono and Tulare Streets.
The event runs from 1-11 p.m., and it’s open to all ages. Admission is free.
Last year, FresYes Fest drew 17,000 people and organizers are anticipating a crowd of 20,000 this year.
Proceeds from the sale of the tribute beer will go toward a charity of the honorees’ choosing.
Flores chose his Tom Flores Youth Foundation, which helps students in the Sanger Unified School District.
Flores played at Sanger High, Fresno City College and University of the Pacific and in the old AFL and led the Raiders to two Super Bowl wins as coach.
He won 97 games, including an 83-53 run with the Raiders from 1979 to 1987. But he was even better in the postseason, where his 8-3 record for a .727 winning percentage ranks second to Vince Lombardi among those who have coached 10 or more playoff games.
Under Flores, the Raiders became the first wild-card team to win a Super Bowl, beating the Philadelphia Eagles in 1980. They won again under Flores in 1983, holding offensive-minded Washington in check in a 38-9 victory.
Flores and Mike Ditka are the only two men to earn Super Bowl rings as a player, assistant coach and coach.
This story was originally published March 2, 2020 at 5:28 PM.
