When requested concerning the NFL hiring Lynch, the felony workforce representing Flores didn’t remark.
The Dolphins fired Flores in January, and the workforce introduced Mike McDaniel as their subsequent head trainer previous this month. Flores was once 24-25 in his 3 years with the Dolphins, together with a 9-8 file this previous season when Miami overlooked qualifying for the playoffs.
In his lawsuit towards the NFL and 3 groups — the Dolphins, Denver Broncos and New York Giants — Flores alleges that once the common season, the Giants interviewed him for his or her vacant head training activity underneath disingenuous cases, claiming he had came upon 3 days earlier than his interview that the Giants had already determined to rent Brian Daboll.
The Giants group previous this month issued a remark status by way of its procedure and resolution to rent Daboll.
“We’re happy and assured with the method that resulted within the hiring of Brian Daboll,” the workforce’s remark learn. “We interviewed an outstanding and various team of applicants. The truth of the topic is, Brian Flores was once within the dialog to be our head trainer till the 11th hour. In the long run, we employed the person we felt was once maximum certified to be our subsequent head trainer.”
The NFL instituted the Rooney Rule in 2003 so to build up variety a number of the NFL’s head training, normal supervisor and govt ranks. The rule of thumb calls for each and every workforce to interview no less than two exterior minority applicants for open head training positions, in step with the NFL’s Soccer Operations web page.
As of Wednesday, there are handiest two Black head coaches within the NFL — Pittsburgh Steelers’ Mike Tomlin and Houston Texans’ Lovie Smith — in a league the place just about 70% of the gamers are Black.
3 different head coaches of colour lead their groups: Washington Commanders’ Ron Rivera, who’s of Puerto Rican and Mexican descent, New York Jets’ Robert Saleh, who’s of Lebanese descent, and McDaniel, who’s multiracial.
Following the announcement of the lawsuit in February, the NFL issued a remark calling Flores’ allegations meritless.
“The NFL and our golf equipment are deeply dedicated to making sure equitable employment practices and proceed to make development in offering equitable alternatives during our organizations,” the league mentioned in its remark. “Range is core to the entirety we do, and there are few problems on which our golf equipment and our inner management workforce spend extra time. We will be able to shield towards those claims, that are with out benefit.”
Flores alleges he had a ‘sham interview’ with Broncos
Flores’ lawsuit makes a declare of any other “sham interview,” this one with the Denver Broncos in 2019. Flores says that “Broncos’ then-Normal Supervisor John Elway, President and Leader Government Officer Joe Ellis and others confirmed up an hour overdue to the interview” and provides that the Broncos’ delegation “regarded utterly raveled, and it was once glaring that they’d ingesting closely the evening earlier than.”
The Denver Broncos strongly challenged Flores’ lawsuit, announcing, “The allegations from Brian Flores directed towards the Denver Broncos in lately’s court docket submitting are blatantly false.”
“Our procedure was once thorough and honest to resolve essentially the most certified candidate for our head training place,” the workforce’s remark persisted.
Elway additionally launched a remark rejecting Flores’ claims.
“I took Trainer Flores very severely as a candidate for our head training place in 2019 and loved our three-and-a-half hour interview with him. At the side of the remainder of our team, I used to be ready, able and entirely engaged all over all the interview as Brian shared his enjoy and imaginative and prescient for our workforce,” Elway’s remark this month learn.
“For Brian to make an assumption about my look and frame of mind early that morning was once subjective, hurtful and simply simple fallacious. If I gave the impression ‘raveled,’ as he claimed, it was once as a result of we had flown in all over the nighttime — instantly following any other interview in Denver — and have been occurring a couple of hours of sleep to fulfill the one window equipped to us,” Elway’s remark learn.
Flores says Dolphins’ proprietor Stephen Ross introduced to pay Flores to purposely lose video games with the intention to safe a better pick out within the NFL draft and inspired Flores to purposely violate league tampering laws. Flores says when he refused, Ross then led a marketing campaign to regard Flores with “disdain and held out as any person who was once noncompliant and hard to paintings with.”
The Dolphins replied to Flores’ allegations, announcing partly, “We vehemently deny any allegations of racial discrimination and are pleased with the variety and inclusion during our group. The implication that we acted in a way inconsistent with the integrity of the sport is unsuitable. We will be able to be withholding additional remark at the lawsuit right now.”
CNN’s Steve Almasy contributed to this record.
