Brian Flores, the former head coach of the Miami Dolphins, started Black History Month off with a bang when he filed a lawsuit against the NFL, as well as the New York Giants, the Denver Broncos, and his former team, the Miami Dolphins.
According to ESPN, in the lawsuit, which was filed in Manhattan federal court Tuesday, Flores alleges discrimination was a leading factor when it came to his interview process with the Giants and Broncos, as well as with his firing in Miami.
In the lawsuit, he details the alleged incidents of discrimination. He says he was “treated with disdain and held out as someone who was noncompliant and difficult to work with,” after he refused to follow certain demands from Dolphins owner Stephen Ross. He claims that after he was hired in 2019, Ross tried to get him to purposely lose games by offering $100,000 for every game that the team lost, in order to impact the team’s draft position.
He claims that Dolphins GM Chris Grier told Ross that he was “mad,” as the team experienced success on the field, towards the end of the season.
Flores says that Ross also tried to pressure him into recruiting a “prominent quarterback” at the end of the 2019 season, which he refused so that he would not be violating the NFL’s rules on tampering.
He says that he also interviewed with the New York Giants for their head coach position recently. However, he claims they only interviewed with him because of the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview minority candidates for their open positions. In the lawsuit, he says he has text messages between him and Patriots head coach, Bill Belichick, who he used to work under, and Belichick allegedly told him “Buffalo and NYG that you are their guy.”
Belichick later recanted his statement, and allegedly told Flores, “Sorry — I f**ked this up. I double-checked and misread the text. I think they are naming Brian Daboll. I’m sorry about that.”
Flores says a similar situation happened with the Denver Broncos when they interviewed him in2019. He alleges those in the front office over there in Denver arrived late and hungover to their meeting due to “drinking heavily the night before.”
Through his lawsuit, Flores is looking to “shine a light on the racial injustices that take place inside the NFL.”
Flores also said in a statement, “God has gifted me with a special talent to coach the game of football, but the need for change is bigger than my personal goals. In making the decision to file the class action complaint today, I understand that I may be risking coaching the game that I love and that has done so much for my family and me. My sincere hope is that by standing up against systemic racism in the NFL, others will join me to ensure that positive change is made for generations to come.”
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TSR STAFF: Jade Ashley @Jade_Ashley94
