Getty Brian Flores walks the field.
Tuesday, February 1, was a notable day for the Denver Broncos after the club was officially put up for sale for what is expected to be a record-setting price tag for any North American sports franchise, around the $4 billion mark.
However, the organization made headlines in another notable development involving former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, who filed a class-action lawsuit with the Southern District of New York against the NFL and all 32 of its clubs for racial discrimination.
The lawsuit alleges Flores was discriminated against during the hiring process with multiple teams, including the Broncos.
According to the lawsuit, then-general manager John Elway, CEO Joe Ellis and others showed up to an interview one hour late and “looked completely disheveled”:
In 2019 Mr. Flores was scheduled to interview with the Denver Broncos. However, the Broncos’ then-General Manager, John Elway, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ellis, and others, showed up an hour late to the interview. They looked completely disheveled, and it was obvious that they had drinking heavily the night before.
Flores also alleges the Broncos “never had any intention” of hiring him, but rather were satisfying the league’s Rooney Rule, which requires NFL teams to “conduct an in-person interview with at least one external minority candidate for any GM or head coaching interview.”
“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. Shortly thereafter, Vic Fangio, a White man, was hired to be the Head Coach of the Broncos,” according to the court documents.
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Broncos Organization Calls Claims ‘Blatantly False’
The Broncos quickly denied the allegations against the organization with an official statement via Adam Schefter of ESPN:
The allegations from Brian Flores directed towards 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 schedule 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.
In his first public interview with CBS Mornings on Wednesday, February 2, Flores responded to the Broncos’ rebuttal, saying in part, “I deal in truth, that’s my reaction. I deal in truth. Honesty, integrity is important to me, and hopefully, there’s a day we find out the truth on that one.”
Other Allegations From Flores’ Lawsuit
There are many other bombshell allegations in Flores’ lawsuit against the NFL.
According to the court document, the New York Giants also interviewed him only to satisfy the Rooney Rule. He discovered that, according the lawsuit alleges, after New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick — his former boss of 11 seasons from 2008 to 2018 — texted him congratulating him on getting the Giants’ head coaching job three days before his interview, thinking Flores was former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll.
“Sorry – I f***** this up. I double checked and misread the text. I think
they are naming Brian Daboll. I’m sorry about that. BB,” one of Belichick’s texts read, per the lawsuit.
Flores alleges Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 for every loss during the 2019 season, asking him “to ‘tank’ the season to put the team in position to secure the first pick in the draft.” When the team won thanks “in no small part to Mr. Flores’ coaching,” Ross would become “mad” that it was “compromising [the team’s] draft position,” according to the lawsuit. He also alleges Ross tried to get him to violate NFL tampering rules by actively recruiting “a prominent quarterback.”
The Dolphins fired Flores on January 10 only three seasons into his five-year contract and was told “he was being terminated for ‘poor collaboration,'” according to the document. Under Flores, Miami closed the 2021 season strong winning eight of their last nine games. Overall, the Dolphins had a winning record in each of the last two seasons and a 24-25 record overall.
The lawsuit also alleges discriminatory treatment toward other successful NFL minority coaches, including David Culley, Kris Richard, Jim Caldwell and Eric Bieniemy.
Richard was the defensive backs coach for the Seattle Seahawks during the “Legion of Boom” era, eventually becoming the team’s defensive coordinator from 2015 to 2017. The Seahawks had the best defense in the NFL in 2015 under Richard, who is currently the defensive backs coach for the New Orleans Saints.
Bieniemy has been the offensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs for the last four seasons. He was most recently interviewed for the Broncos head coaching position in January — which was awarded to Packers offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett — but he was not a finalist.
Culley and Caldwell have both had stints as head coaches but were fired in questionable circumstances. Culley most recently in January after leading the Houston Texans to a surprising 4-13 record in his one season at the helm.
However, the Texans’ roster was devoid of talent following the departures of DeAndre Hopkins and J.J. Watt, and star quarterback Deshaun Watson sitting out the entire season due to legal action against him. The Texans went 4-12 in 2020 with Watson playing all 16 games.
Caldwell was fired after leading to Detroit Lions to 9-7 records in back-to-back seasons in 2016 and 2017. The Lions have not had a winning record since.