Former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores spoke publicly for the first time Wednesday after filing a lawsuit against the NFL and three teams.
Tuesday Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the league, New York Giants, Denver Broncos and Miami Dolphins alleging that their hiring processes are rooted in racism and discrimination.
The 40-year-old coach appeared on “CBS Mornings” Wednesday alongside his attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor and John Elefterakis stating that they hope the lawsuit creates “some real change” within the league.
Flores described receiving a text from Patriots head coach Bill Belichick congratulating him on getting the Giants job before he had even interviewed. Turns out, Belichick thought he was texting Brian Daboll, who ultimately got the job. Flores believed the organization set him up with and “sham interview” to “comply with the Rooney Rule” which mandates teams interview minority candidates for vacant head coaching and football operations jobs.
“It was a range of emotions. Humiliation, disbelief, anger. I’ve worked so hard to get where I am, to become a head coach. Put 18 years in this league. To go on what was gonna be a, or what was, a sham interview, I was hurt,” Flores said.
When asked why he still went on to interview with the Giants, he replied “the audacity of hope.”
In the lawsuit, Flores also alleges Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered to pay him $100K per loss in an effort to secure a better draft pick. He also alleged Ross tried to pressure him into recruiting an unnamed QB to join the team, which is against the league’s tampering rule. Flores refused and said he was labeled difficult to work with which is why he believed he got fired.
“This game has done a lot for me. I grew up not far from here in the projects in Brownsville, Brooklyn. I didn’t grow up with a lot. This game changed my life. So, to attack the integrity of the game, that’s what I felt was happening in that instance and I wouldn’t stand for it,” he said. “I think it hurt my standing within the organization and ultimately was the reason why I was let go.”
In regards to the lawsuit, Flores said, “We didn’t have to file a lawsuit for the world to know there’s a problem from a hiring standpoint in regards to minority coaches in the National Football League. The numbers speak for themselves. We filed a lawsuit so that we can create some change, and that’s important to me. We’re at a fork in the road right now,” he said. “We’re either gonna keep it the way it is, or we’re gonna go in another direction and actually make some real change where actually changing the hearts and minds of those who make decisions to hire head coaches, executives, etc. We gotta change hearts and minds.”
