Former Patriots assistant coach and Dolphins head coach Brian Flores launched a bombshell class-action lawsuit Tuesday afternoon against the NFL and its teams, in particular the Giants, Dolphins and Broncos, alleging systemic racism in their hiring practices and is seeking changes to the hiring system, and for all monetary and economic damages.
By filing a class-action lawsuit, Flores appears hopeful that more minority coaching candidates will join him in the suit down the road.
The key piece of evidence submitted: texted from Bill Belichick where the Patriots' head coach allegedly thinks he's texting with current Giants head coach Brian Daboll — and congratulating him on getting the Giants' job — but was instead texting with Flores, who was scheduled to interview with the Giants.
“Sorry – I (expletive) this up. I double checked and misread the text. I think they are naming Brian Daboll. I’m sorry about that. BB.” — Bill Belichick informing Plaintiff Brian Flores, three days before his interview with the New York Giants that Brian Daboll had already been selected for the job.
Other allegations in the suit:
- That Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered Flores $100,000 for each loss during the 2019 season, in an effort to secure the No. 1 overall draft pick;
- Ross pushed Flores to meet with a quarterback in the offseason — reportedly Tom Brady — when such contact was banned.
- Broncos executives John Elway and Joe Ellis gave him a sham interview in 2019, claiming they were over an hour late and hungover.
Statements made today:
Flores — “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, I understand that I may be risking coaching the game I love and 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.”
NFL — "The NFL and our clubs are deeply committed to ensuring equitable employment practices and continue to make progress in providing equitable opportunities throughout our organizations. Diversity is core to everything we do, and there are few issues on which our clubs and our internal leadership team spend more time. We will defend against these claims, which are without merit.”
Giants — “We are pleased and confident with the process that resulted in the hiring of Brian Daboll. We interviewed an impressive and diverse group of candidates. The fact of the matter is, Brian Flores was in the conversation to be our head coach until the eleventh hour. Ultimately, we hired the individual we felt was most qualified to be our next head coach."
Dolphins — “We are aware of the lawsuit through the media reports that came out this afternoon. We vehemently deny any allegations of racial discrimination and are proud of the diversity and inclusion throughout our organization. The implication that we acted in a manner inconsistent with the integrity of the game is incorrect. We will be withholding further comment on the lawsuit at this time.”
Broncos — "The allegations from Brian Flores directed toward the Denver Broncos in today’s court filing are blatantly false. Our interview with Mr. Flores regarding our head coaching position began promptly at the scheduled time of 7:30 a.m. on Jan. 5, 2019, in a Providence, R.I., hotel. There were five Broncos executives present for the interview, which lasted approximately three-and-a-half hours—the fully allotted time—and concluded shortly before 11 a.m. Pages of detailed notes, analysis and evaluations from our interview demonstrate the depth of our conversation and sincere interest in Mr. Flores as a head coaching candidate. Our process was thorough and fair to determine the most qualified candidate for our head coaching position. The Broncos will vigorously defend the integrity and values of our organization—and its employees—from such baseless and disparaging claims."
BSJ ANALYSIS
Well, there's a lot to unpack here.
• First off, it takes a lot of guts to decide to do something like this, and it doesn't surprise me that Flores was the one to go after the hiring practices of the league. He's smart as hell, competitive, and feisty. He is not afraid of a fight. He knows this very likely could end his NFL coaching career — he could be the coaching equivalent of Colin Kaepernick — and he still did it. Flores had to know all the ramifications of this. That he still went through with it tells me, a) he believes he will be joined by others in the class and provide more evidence against the league, b) that he is going to see this through. That means no deal. Flores will want to get to discovery, which the NFL will avoid at all costs. At that point, either Flores and the class will get to dictate all the settlement terms — not exactly sure how they'll be able to force NFL teams to hire more minority coaches and GMs — or they will push through, and will start demanding emails and text messages from the most powerful people in the league.
• I understand what Flores is doing, I just don't understand the timing. The hiring cycle is not over yet. He was still in play for other jobs. This couldn't have waited in his back pocket for a couple more weeks.
• Flores putting Belichick's texts on blast ... that has to end any future he possibly had in New England, right? At least until Belichick retires. While entertaining, Belichick's texts are pretty flimsy evidence. We're talking about a 69-year-old coach using modern technology. A lawyer could easily demonstrate Belichick was totally confused and may have mixed up his sources on the Daboll news. Heck, Belichick could just say he was talking about media reports linking Daboll and the new Giants GM, who also came from Buffalo. Not saying that's what happened, just that reasonable doubt isn't a stretch.
• The integrity of the game allegations against Ross, if backed up with more evidence than Flores' words, are very serious and must immediately be investigated by the league. Orchestrating a scheme to throw games ... that should at least come with a one-year ban for Ross, plus a hefty fine and draft pick penalties — at least one first-round pick.
• Flores would still be a head coach in his league — and a good one — if he didn't take the job working for Ross and the Dolphins, neither of which have been the picture of stability in some time. Flores took that job (some of us said he shouldn't have for this very reason) and chose to work for that man, and getting fired was a possible outcome, no matter his record. Flores being ousted, partially by a black GM in Chris Grier, was not about racism — it was about working for an owner who has no idea what he's doing when it comes to football. Not an exclusive club.