Brian Flores, in addition to leveling heavy allegations against the Giants, Dolphins, 30 other NFL teams and the league itself in a bombshell discrimination lawsuit, accused Denver Broncos brass of disrespectful behavior.
In the suit, Flores claims that in a 2019 interview for the Denver head coaching vacancy, John Elway and former Broncos executive Joe Ellis were late and “completely disheveled” from an evening of heavy drinking. Flores also said he was only interviewed in a sham to satisfy the league’s “Rooney Rule” of interviewing minority candidates.
“[I]n 2019 Mr. Flores was scheduled to interview with the Denver Broncos. However, the Broncos’ then-General Manager, John Elway, President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Ellis and others, 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,” the lawsuit alleges.
“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.”
The Broncos said in a statement that Flores’ allegations directed at the team 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,” the team said. “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.”
Also in the suit, Flores accused the Giants of perpetrating a “sham” hiring process, citing text messages Patriots coach Bill Belichick mistakenly sent his former defensive assistant, congratulating him for getting the job. Purportedly, Belichick believed he was congratulating Brian Daboll, several days before Flores was slated to interview.
The Giants denied Flores’ allegations.
“We are pleased and confident with the process that resulted in the hiring of Brian Daboll,” the Giants said in a statement. “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.”
The NFL responded to Flores’ discrimination claims.
“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,” the league said in a statement. “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.”
Flores, who was recently fired by the Dolphins after three seasons, also accused owner Stephen Ross of attempting to bribe him $100,000 per loss to tank games in 2019, and tamper with an unnamed “prominent” quarterback on a yacht the following offseason.
