Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores has filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL, the New York Giants, the Dener Broncos, and the Dolphins claiming racial discrimination in the league's hiring process for coaches and executives.
The lawsuit showed text messages of Patriot coach Bill Belichick sending congratulations to Flores for landing the Giants job on January 24. That text was sent two days prior to Flores actually interviewing for the job. After Flores initially appeared confused by the text message, he asked Belichick, “Coach, are you talking to Brian Flores or Brian Daboll. Just making sure.” Belichick replied: “Sorry – I fucked this up. I double checked & I misread the text. I think they are naming Daboll. I’m sorry about that. BB”
The lawsuit alleges that Flores was then “forced to sit through a dinner with Joe Schoen, the Giant’s new General Manager, knowing that the Giants had already selected Mr. Daboll. Much worse, on Thursday, January 27, 2022, Mr. Flores had to [sit for] an extensive interview for a job that he already knew he would not get — an interview that was held for no reason other than for the Giants to demonstrate falsely to the League Commissioner Roger Goodell and the public at large that it was in compliance with the Rooney rule.” Flores was a Patriots assistant coach for eleven years before he departed to take over as the Dolphins’ head coach. Daboll (also a former Patriots assistant) was officially introduced as the Giants’ newest head coach on Monday.
“Having discovered what the Giants and the rest of the NFL had hoped to keep in the dark, Mr. Flores now brings this Class Action Complaint to shine a light on the racial injustices that take place inside the NFL and to effectuate real change for the future,” the lawsuit stated. The lawsuit also explores the history of Black coaches having a more difficult time getting and keeping head coaching jobs, using Flores’ interview as an example of a Black coach who did not have a real chance to earn the job. The lawsuit detailed the history of Black coaches getting overlooked for jobs or fired prematurely, including Jim Caldwell, Steve Wilks, David Culley, Kris Richard, Teryl Austin, Eric Bieniemy, and Flores himself.
The lawsuit also alleges that Flores underwent a “sham interview” with the Broncos in 2019, before they hired Vic Fangio. In that instance, then-GM John Elway and CEO Joe Ellis “showed up an hour late to the interview. They looked completely disheveled, and it was obvious that they had been drinking heavily the night before. It was clear from the substance of the interview that Mr. Flores was interviewed only because of the Rooney Rule, and that the Broncos never had any intention to consider him as a legitimate candidate for the job.”
Flores was fired by the Dolphins, despite leading the team to winning seasons the past two years. He alleges that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him an extra $100,000 in 2019 for every game lost, so that Miami would get a better draft pick. “The team’s General Manager, Chris Grier, told Mr. Flores that [Ross] was ‘mad’ that Mr. Flores’ success in winning games that year was ‘compromising [the team’s] draft position,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit also alleges that after the end of the 2019 season, Ross pressured Flores to recruit “a prominent quarterback,” which would have violated the league’s tampering rules. Flores said he “repeatedly refused to comply with these improper directives.” The suit also claims that Ross invited Flores onto his yacht for lunch, only for that same prominent quarterback to also be arriving at the marina at the same time.“After the inc ident, Mr. Flores was treated with disdain and held out as someone who was non-compliant and difficult to work with,” the suit said.
Flores released a statement after filing the lawsuit, saying that he understands the suit may negatively impact his chances to land another NFL head coaching job but nevertheless felt compelled to go public with the accusations. “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 I love and has done so much for my family and me,” Flores said. “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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