Brian Flores alleged in an explosive lawsuit that John Elway and the Broncos sat down with him in 2019 simply to meet the NFL’s “Rooney Rule” requirement.
Not only was the opportunity with the Broncos a “sham,” but Flores, who is Black, said in the 58-page class action suit filed in Manhattan Federal Court on Tuesday that Elway showed up to the interview late and appeared disheveled and hungover.
Elway, the two-time Super Bowl-winning Broncos quarterback who went on to run the organization from the executive suite, called the recently fired Miami Dolphins head coach’s allegations “false and defamatory,” in a statement released Thursday to Denver 9News reporter Mike Klis.
“I took Coach Flores very seriously for our head coaching position in 2019,” Elway wrote, saying he could no longer remain silent “with my character, integrity and professionalism being attacked.”
He went on to try and offer an explanation for why Flores might “make an assumption about my appearance and state of mind.”
“If I appeared “disheveled” as he claimed, it was because we had flown during the middle of the night — immediately following another interview in Denver — and were going on a few hours of sleep to meet the only window provided to us.”
Elway, who has since stepped away from day-to-day duties with the Broncos, called the allegations “hurtful.”
Flores, who was on Bill Belichick’s staff as linebackers coach with the Patriots at the time, met with the Broncos contingent in Providence, R.I.
He said in the lawsuit that Elway — then the Broncos general manager — and team president Joe Ellis showed up hungover and late. Flores said the pair “looked completely disheveled, and it was obvious that they had been drinking heavily the night before.”
The Broncos called the allegations “blatantly false” on Tuesday.
“I interviewed Brian in good faith, giving him the same consideration and opportunity as every other candidate for our head coaching position in 2019,” Elway added in his statement. The Broncos ended up hiring Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. Fangio was fired last month after three losing seasons in the Mile High City.
Flores didn’t back down about his assessment of the Broncos interview during a media blitz on Wednesday morning.
“When you sit at a table with five people who are interviewing you, you can tell who’s asking questions, who’s into the interview and who’s not necessarily in the right state, I would say, in that moment,” Flores told ESPN.
Flores, who went 24-25 in three seasons in Miami (including back-to-back winning seasons), was fired by Dolphins owner Stephen Ross a day after the regular season finale.
He accused the Giants of conducting the same type of “sham” interview last month.
Flores, a Brooklyn native, said he found out that Big Blue was going to hire Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll to replace the fired Joe Judge when Belichick accidentally texted congratulations to the wrong Brian.
The damning text exchange from Belichick came before Flores had even interviewed with the Giants.
“That text confirmed what a lot of us Black, minority coaches already believe — that we’re going into these and they’re shams,” Flores said on ESPN.
The Giants have largely remained silent on Flores’ claims, other than a statement released on Tuesday.
“We are pleased and confident with the process that resulted in the hiring of Brian Daboll,” the team 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 “Rooney Rule” was instituted by the NFL to try to increase minority coaches in the game. After Flores’ surprise firing, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is the NFL’s only Black head coach.
“In certain critical ways, the NFL is racially segregated and is managed much like a plantation,” the lawsuit states. “Its 32 owners — none of whom are black — profit substantially from the labor of NFL players, 70% of whom are black.
“The racial discrimination has only been made worse by the NFL’s disingenuous commitment to social equity.”
