Brian Flores is suing the NFL and three teams. The coach is making allegations of racism. At the heart of the lawsuit is a breakdown by Bill Belichick.

Munich/New York – Brian Flores, who was fired as head coach of the Miami Dolphins after last regular season, is suing the NFL, the New York Giants, the Denver Broncos and his former employer the Miami Dolphins. This was first reported by several NFL insiders and “CBS Boston” in agreement.

“I sincerely hope that others will join me in standing up against systemic racism in the NFL to ensure that something positive changes for generations to come,” Flores stated.

In the lawsuit, Flores accuses teams of racism in the hiring process. Specifically, the lawsuit is about the recent coaching vacancies for the Giants and Broncos.

Flores accuses teams of “sham interviews”

He had been invited to a dinner and an interview, but the Giants had long since promised the job to Brian Daboll. According to Flores, the team’s only concern was to proactively prove that they were abiding by the so-called “Rooney Rule”. This rule in the NFL statutes stipulates that candidates from an ethnic minority must always be interviewed.

The fact that he no longer had a chance at the Giants job at all was apparently learned by Flores in a most curious way. Flores’ lawyers published screenshots of a text message conversation that allegedly took place between Bill Belichick and Flores. However, the head coach of the New England Patriots got something mixed up: Belichick wanted to congratulate Daboll on his new job, but accidentally sent the text message to Flores.

Texts from Bill Belichick to Brian Flores, congratulating Brian for landing the Giants job.

Belichick thought he was texting Brian Daboll. He was texting Flores by mistake. pic.twitter.com/Y686XcjYC3

– Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) February 1, 2022

In the lawsuit, Flores states, “God has gifted me with a special talent as a football coach. But the need for change is greater than my personal goals. In deciding to file this lawsuit, I am aware that I may be putting my future as a coach at risk. “

Does Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offer money for defeats?

The Giants also issued a statement minutes after the lawsuit was announced, saying, “Brian Flores was in the conversation as head coach until the last hour. Ultimately, we hired who we felt was most qualified to be our next head coach.”

Flores’ accusations are not only directed at the Giants; rather, his ex-employer is the main target of criticism.

Flores claims Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered to pay him an extra $100,000 per loss during the 2019 season because Ross wanted the Dolphins to lose enough games to secure the top pick in the 2020 NFL draft.

Brian Flores lawsuit says that Steven Ross said he’d pay Flores 100K for every Dolphins loss in 2019 season to tank. Also provides text message evidence from Bill Belichick that Giants already decided to hire Brian Daboll when he came in for what he calls a “sham interview.” https://t.co/ft1qQ8T2NO pic.twitter.com/bfRbF5ms5U

– Cameron Wolfe (@CameronWolfe) February 1, 2022

Broncos are also accused by name in the lawsuit

In addition, Ross allegedly tried to get him to recruit “a prominent quarterback” who was still under contract with another team at the time. Presumably this means Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans, there have always been Dolphins rumours about him. This is a clear violation of the league’s tampering rules. According to the report, Flores refused to follow the instructions.

The third specific team Flores accused was the Denver Broncos. During the search for a head coach in 2019, GM John Elway and President Joe Ellis allegedly came to the interview with Flores hungover and completely dishevelled. The interview was reportedly a sham to comply with the cited “Rooney Rule”.

The 40-year-old structured the lawsuit as a class action and probably expects other coaches to join the suit. Together with his lawyers, the ex-coach is also heavily critical of the NFL.

According to the lawsuit, “In some respects, the NFL is racially segregated and run like a plantation. The 32 owners – none of whom are black – essentially profit from the work of NFL players, 70% of whom are black. The owners watch the games from their luxury boxes at NFL stadiums while their majority Black employees put their bodies on the line every Sunday, taking vicious beatings and suffering serious injuries to their bodies and brains while the NFL and its owners rake in billions of dollars. “

League defends itself against “unfounded allegations “

The league spoke out via statement shortly after, clearly defending itself against the allegations:

“The NFL and its clubs are deeply committed to ensuring fair employment practices and continue to make strides in creating equal opportunity within our organisations. Diversity is central to our work and there are few issues that our clubs and internal leadership team address more intensely. We will fight back against these unfounded allegations. “