Brian Flores lawsuit against NFL claims John Elway looked ‘disheveled’ for interview
Former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores on Tuesday filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the NFL and three teams, including the Denver Broncos.
Much of the story has revolved around Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s texting mistake that appears to show the Giants were only interviewing Flores to satisfy the Rooney Rule, which requires NFL teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching job.
The 58-page court filing also alleges the Broncos held a “sham interview” with Flores in 2019.
“Incredibly this was not Mr. Flores’ first sham interview that was held only in an effort to comply with the Rooney Rule,” the lawsuit alleges. “Indeed 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 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. 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 released a statement denying the allegations and calling them “baseless and disparaging.” The team then shared its version of how the interview was conducted.
“The allegations from Brian Flores directed toward the Denver Broncos in today’s court filing are blatantly false,” the Broncos said, per Yahoo Sports. “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.
“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.”
