A toast to Tom Flores. How Coors Light put its weight into Raider legend’s Hall of Fame bid
Coors Light has gone all in on the campaign to get former Raiders coach Tom Flores into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Parent company Molson Coors got together with the two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach to film a commercial that spotlights his career and latest shot at induction into Canton. And there’s a commemorative beer can available, too.
“Meet football legend Tom Flores,” the 30-second spot opens as vintage photos are shown. “AKA ‘The Iceman’ ... AKA the first Latino quarterback and head coach ever ... AKA four-time champ. ... AKA, why isn’t he in The Hall yet?”
Flores, seen lounging in a lawn chair, simply shrugs.
“Not cool,” the voiceover continues. “But Tom is. Do something chill, Tom.”
That’s when Flores coolly pops the top on the specially designed can that features his likeness. The commercial closes with a web address, CoorsLight.com/Iceman, where fans can sign a petition of support.
“The best part about it is they paid me for it,” Flores joked in a phone call with The Bee. “But I was very honored.”
The spot already is being shown on the NBC Sports Bay Area cable channel and also will be broadcast during the NFL wild-card playoffs. A three-time Hall of Fame finalist, Flores will find out no later than Feb. 6, when the Hall of Fame Class of 2021 is announced, if this time is the charm.
Long day for central Valley legend
While it looks like Flores is just lounging around his Southern California home, it actually was a full day’s work for the former Sanger High, Fresno City College and University of Pacific standout.
Filmed in December, the shoot — involving a crew of 25 — saw Flores get picked up at 7 a.m. and taken to another home that had the backyard layout, including a pool, that the production company needed. “COVID (precautions),” he said, also “prevented them from doing a lot of other stuff” at his actual house.
Though he didn’t get back home until 4 p.m., Flores said he needs no sympathy.
“It wasn’t very strenuous,” Flores told The Bee. “It was just a lot of sitting around, them setting up, and most of it was done when I wasn’t moving. Just sitting and standing and a lot of in-between time as they set up each scene-by-scene and shoots.”
Flores said he had a good time.
“I was very honored. They were high on it and the people were behind the whole movement. They were ecstatic about it. Everybody that has seen it so far has really liked it a lot. It’s a plus-plus and the timing is good when you see it this weekend.”
Maybe his only complaint? The beer cans Flores opened during the takes were empty.
“At the end of the day, they finally gave me one with beer in it,” he said. “I was like, ‘This is more like it.’”
Fans will need to live in or visit Las Vegas if they want to get one of the commemorative cans.
Molson Coors is an official partner of the Las Vegas Raiders.
Is this Tom Flores’ Hall of Fame year?
Flores was the lone coach to be named a finalist for the Class of 2021, nominated during a virtual meeting of the Hall of Fame’s Coach Committee.
Among his career coaching achievements:
▪ 97 victories, including an 83-53 run with the Raiders from 1979 to 1987.
▪ 8-3, a winning percentage of .727 in the playoffs to rank second to Vince Lombardi among those who have coached 10 or more postseason games.
▪ two Super Bowl wins as a head coach. The Raiders were the first wild-card team to win the big game, beating the Philadelphia Eagles after the 1980 season. They won again after the 1983 campaign, holding offensive-minded Washington in check in a 38-9 victory.
▪ 105-90 overall won-loss record with the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders and Seattle Seahawks.
▪ first Hispanic coach in the NFL and first to win a Super Bowl.
For good measure, he was an assistant on the Raiders team that won the franchise’s first Super Bowl following the 1976 season. Flores also passed for 93 touchdowns and nearly 12,000 yards in a nine-year AFL playing career with Oakland, Buffalo and Kansas City.
This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 6:13 PM.
