Brian Flores suing NFL, Giants over "sham" Rooney rule - "mistakenly" (?) sent Belichick text may be linchpin

[bsj]

View: https://twitter.com/alexweprin/status/1488613314200494080?s=20&t=tb-yzdeulDtZO_OYAyR5jg




Does Belichick make this kind of mistake? Possible? Or is this some sort of Belichick middle finger to a league that preaches holier than thou BS regularly?


View: https://twitter.com/ZackCoxNESN/status/1488616441570017284?s=20&t=icrB_ZQazsKz1pToCuqKfA



Complete complaint : https://www.wigdorlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Complaint-against-National-Football-League-et-al-Filed.pdf

 

[Joe D Reid]

Among other fun stuff, an allegation that Steve Ross offered Flores $100K per *loss* during Flores's first season so that the draft pick would stay bad.

Also, Flo ain't coming back.

 

[Gash Prex]

Uh...the stuff about improperly recruiting a certain QB by Stephen Ross is pretty interesting (and damning for Miami). BB's failing at texting and "hearing" Daboll is the Giants guy is important in the lawsuit but I'm not sure quite the smoking gun.

 

[singaporesoxfan]

The text is very strong: https://www.axios.com/nfl-sued-racial-discrimination-former-coach-brian-flores-1817975d-c584-47b0-a761-e7183edc01c6.html

"In certain critical ways, the NFL is racially segregated and is managed much like a plantation. Its 32 owners—none of whom are Black—profit substantially from the labor of NFL players, 70% of whom are Black. The owners watch the games from atop NFL stadiums in their luxury boxes, while their majority-Black workforce put their bodies on the line every Sunday, taking vicious hits and suffering debilitating injuries to their bodies and their brains while the NFL and its owners reap billions of dollars."

 

[sodenj5]

This is career suicide for Flores. I hope I’m wrong.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Burning down the Broncos too:

 

[RedOctober3829]

It looks like Ross wanted Flores to recruit Brady illegally and he wouldn't. I knew there was a smear campaign behind his firing and that the Dolphins organization is a complete and utter dumpster fire and it's been proven correct.

15. After the end of the 2019 season, Mr. Ross began to pressure Mr. Flores to recruit a prominent quarterback in violation of League tampering rules. Mr. Flores repeatedly refused to comply with these improper directives. Undeterred, in the winter of 2020, Mr. Ross invited Mr. Flores onto a yacht for lunch. Shortly after he arrived, Mr. Ross told Mr. Flores that the prominent quarterback was “conveniently” arriving at the marina. Obviously, Mr. Ross had attempted to “set up” a purportedly impromptu meeting between Mr. Flores and the prominent quarterback. Mr. Flores refused the meeting and left the yacht immediately. After the incident, Mr. Flores was treated with disdain and held out as someone who was noncompliant and difficult to work with

16. From that point forward, Mr. Flores was ostracized and ultimately he was fired. He was subsequently defamed throughout the media and the League as he was labeled by the Dolphins brass as someone who was difficult to work with. This is reflective of an all too familiar “angry black man” stigma that is often casted upon Black men who are strong in their morals and convictions while white men are coined as passionate for those very same attributes.

https://www.wigdorlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Complaint-against-National-Football-League-et-al-Filed.pdf

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

View: https://twitter.com/alexweprin/status/1488613949495025664?s=20&t=JPzO1fmpwlXmNQd_XszIbw

 

[bsj]

It looks like Ross wanted Flores to recruit Brady illegally and he wouldn't. I knew there was a smear campaign behind his firing and that the Dolphins organization is a complete and utter dumpster fire and it's been proven correct.

15. After the end of the 2019 season, Mr. Ross began to pressure Mr. Flores to recruit a prominent quarterback in violation of League tampering rules. Mr. Flores repeatedly refused to comply with these improper directives. Undeterred, in the winter of 2020, Mr. Ross invited Mr. Flores onto a yacht for lunch. Shortly after he arrived, Mr. Ross told Mr. Flores that the prominent quarterback was “conveniently” arriving at the marina. Obviously, Mr. Ross had attempted to “set up” a purportedly impromptu meeting between Mr. Flores and the prominent quarterback. Mr. Flores refused the meeting and left the yacht immediately. After the incident, Mr. Flores was treated with disdain and held out as someone who was noncompliant and difficult to work with


https://www.wigdorlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Complaint-against-National-Football-League-et-al-Filed.pdf

Timing makes me think of someone we know.

 

[singaporesoxfan]

This is career suicide for Flores. I hope I’m wrong.

I hope you're wrong too, but also it's clear that Flores feels he reached, very sharply, a glass cliff and trying to stay in the good books of the owners and decision makers just to get put in the same situation again was basically a lost cause.

 

[Ed Hillel]

Honestly, Flores looks a bit like an ass, too, waiting to bring up all this until he didn’t get a job. Not as much as the others, though…

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Belichick showing great old man energy in texting the wrong Brian.

 

[sodenj5]

I hope you're wrong too, but also it's clear that Flores feels he reached, very sharply, a glass cliff and trying to stay in the good books of the owners and decision makers just to get put in the same situation again was basically a lost cause.

I don’t understand why he’s doing this now. He’s supposed to be a finalist for the Texans and the Saints jobs.

He’s almost certainly completely shot himself in the foot here.

 

[cshea]

Belichick showing great old man energy in texting the wrong Brian.

I can see it. Brian Flores and Brian Daboll are probably close to each other in his contact list, that's an easy fuck up.

 

[Bongorific]

Man this complaint is straight fire. I feel like I don’t want to read it yet until I can enjoy it with a nice glass of wine tonight.

 

[tims4wins]

If he is burning down a chance at another job, why wouldn't the Patriots just re-hire him? Hell he could be the succession plan.

 

[ragnarok725]

It looks like Ross wanted Flores to recruit Brady illegally and he wouldn't. I knew there was a smear campaign behind his firing and that the Dolphins organization is a complete and utter dumpster fire and it's been proven correct.

This could be Deshaun Watson too, right?

 

[sodenj5]

Honestly, Flores looks a bit like an ass, too, waiting to bring up all this until he didn’t get a job. Not as much as the others, though…

They also interviewed Leslie Frazier twice and Patrick Graham once for the HC position. I don’t know if his “sham interview” to appease the Rooney Rule really holds much water here.

 

[Bongorific]

Belichick showing great old man energy in texting the wrong Brian.

And signing it “BB”. He texts just like everyone’s great uncle.

 

[cshea]

This could be Deshaun Watson too, right?

The complaint says this was in 2019. Watson wasn't available at the time and it was Brady's last year in New England.

 

[Saints Rest]

This is career suicide for Flores. I hope I’m wrong.

I wonder if it means Flores will return to NE as DC, and as the new HC in waiting with Josh now gone.

 

[bluefenderstrat]

I wonder what the Giants texts to Bill say? "We're interviewing Brian just to get around the Rooney rule but keep that between us" is different from "We're hiring Brian but keep that quiet."

 

[cshea]

I wonder if it means Flores will return to NE as DC, and as the new HC in waiting with Josh now gone.

Well Bill's kid is the DC and I'm not sure Flores has ever worked on the offensive side of the ball, other than with his HC duties in Miami.

 

[Smiling Joe Hesketh]

Flores relaying the Broncos story likely means that he's been simmering about this kind of garbage for several years and when the Giants hired Daboll before even talking to him he'd had enough of the sham.

 

[ragnarok725]

I don’t understand why he’s doing this now. He’s supposed to be a finalist for the Texans and the Saints jobs.

He’s almost certainly completely shot himself in the foot here.

Shot himself in the foot... I mean he's exposing some pretty transparently racist things in this complaint. Are you saying he should have just swallowed it and be glad for what he was given?

 

[Harry Hooper]

An owner trying to bribe his head coach to lose? Where is the "Integrity of the Game" Commish?

Probably only a fine if this is substantiated, but Ross should be out as an owner in the NFL. In a strange way, such news might actually hurt the NFL's expanding ventures with gambling.

 

[Ed Hillel]

This is career suicide for Flores. I hope I’m wrong.

Completely disagree, the league is going to look awful and someone will hire him as their form of PR. He deserves it anyway, of course, but I doubt he’s blackballed, at least initially. Now, he better make sure he doesn’t fuck up any rule or say anything wrong after that, or he’ll get Gruden’d.

 

[Carmine Hose]

BB strikes again. "Helps" torpedo Flores head coaching prospects and brings him back as DC.

 

[CreightonGubanich]

I can see it. Brian Flores and Brian Daboll are probably close to each other in his contact list, that's an easy fuck up.

It's also not clear if Bill was actually texting the wrong Brian, or if he misread the information that was sent to him in the first place. I'm curious what prompted Flores to ask the question though.

Also, I disagree that Flores looks bad here. If what he says is true, he was fired essentially for refusing to tank and refusing to violate league recruiting rules. He had an owner that completely undermined what he was trying to do, and then fired him, not in spite of his success, but because of it. If anything, the fact that he filed this suit after learning of the Daboll news, but while still a candidate for other jobs, speaks in his favor. Enough is enough, regardless of what it does to his career.

 

[Harry Hooper]

Flores relaying the Broncos story likely means that he's been simmering about this kind of garbage for several years and when the Giants hired Daboll before even talking to him he'd had enough of the sham.

Plus the Giants gig could truly be his dream job given where/when he grew up.

 

[cshea]

It's also not clear if Bill was actually texting the wrong Brian, or if he misread the information that was sent to him in the first place. I'm curious what prompted Flores to ask the question though.

Yeah, this makes sense. His Giants contact could've texted him "We're hiring Brian" and he thought Flores, not Daboll.

 

[Ralphwiggum]

Good for Flores for doing this despite what it might cost him reputationally in the league.

Edit: I should clarify, good for him for getting this out there regardless, but it shows particular courage to do so at the potential risk of future coaching gigs. I don't know which way this will go. The NFL definitely looks bad as a league if he's blackballed over this, but I don't know that individual owners care, and we are talking about the league that collectively turned its back on Kaepernick over kneeling.

 

[cornwalls@6]

Belichick showing great old man energy in texting the wrong Brian.

Oh man, I hadn’t considered that. You may very well right.

 

[ragnarok725]

The complaint says this was in 2019. Watson wasn't available at the time and it was Brady's last year in New England.

I think you're right. Watson was on his 5th year option in 2019. He didn't sign his extension until September, so that could work. But a winter meeting the following year would have been before the sexual assault story broke.

 

[WestMassExpat]

Who calls their former boss in texts by a courtesy title especially after leaving the organization?

 

[amfox1]

I don’t understand why he’s doing this now. He’s supposed to be a finalist for the Texans and the Saints jobs.

He’s almost certainly completely shot himself in the foot here.

Unless he already knows that he's off their radar for winning their jobs. Wouldn't have thought he was getting either job, given the Texans rumors about Gannon/McCown and the Saints relationship with Dennis Allen.

More like shot his foot completely off. This appears to be (NFL) career suicide. The lawsuit seems designed for maximum NFL embarrassment.

 

[DJnVa]

BB strikes again. "Helps" torpedo Flores head coaching prospects and brings him back as DC.

How did he torpedo it? That errant text may set fire to the NFL and I am here for it.

 

[amfox1]

Mike Giardi
@MikeGiardi
2m

Statement from Brian Flores: "God has gifted me with a special talent to coach the game of football, but the need for change is bigger than my personal goals. In making the decision to file the class action complaint, I understand that I may be risking coaching the game I love."

 

[BigSoxFan]

B Flo was a fiery competitor at BC when I was there. NFL better be ready for a fight. He’s gonna bring it.

 

[tims4wins]

Side topic, if the league looks into the Brady thing, would Miami potentially be penalized for tampering? If so, would the Patriots be in line to receive any compensation? I know, this will never actually happen. But just curious what it would look like.

 

[RIrooter09]

Completely disagree, the league is going to look awful and someone will hire him as their form of PR. He deserves it anyway, of course, but I doubt he’s blackballed, at least initially. Now, he better make sure he doesn’t fuck up any rule or say anything wrong after that, or he’ll get Gruden’d.

I'd agree with you if the league hadn't so successfully blackballed Kaepernick before this. I hope I'm wrong, and it still seems to be worth the fight.

 

[cshea]

One thing that does strike me as un-Belichick is the Giants?!?!?!?!? in his response to Flores. I wouldn't have pictured Bill as a big punctuation guy in text messaging.

 

[Mystic Merlin]

Who calls their former boss in texts by a courtesy title especially after leaving the organization?

People do this all time in the NFL. It’s meant as a term of respect. For example, how many times has Cowher been called anything but ‘Coach’ on the CBS pregame show?

 

[Cellar-Door]

Who calls their former boss in texts by a courtesy title especially after leaving the organization?

You mean "coach"? A lot of people probably, guys get so used to calling someone something they continue long after they stopped, I mean you see guys who are on other teams' staffs calling guys that they played under years ago "Coach"

 

[Super Nomario]

It's also not clear if Bill was actually texting the wrong Brian, or if he misread the information that was sent to him in the first place. I'm curious what prompted Flores to ask the question though.

I think it's the "hearing from Buffalo" piece that tips Flores off that it's the wrong Brian.

 

[Harry Hooper]

The complaint says this was in 2019. Watson wasn't available at the time and it was Brady's last year in New England.

Brady was officially a free agent in March 2020 when his Pats contract expired, so any contact with any team before then would be not permitted. The complaint says "at the end of the 2019 season" which could mean late 2019 or into 2020.

 

[Cellar-Door]

One thing that does strike me as un-Belichick is the Giants?!?!?!?!? in his response to Flores. I wouldn't have pictured Bill as a big punctuation guy in text messaging.

I remembered from the Trump note fiasco, that apparently Bill is a huge fan of exclamation points

 

[Ed Hillel]

I'd agree with you if the league hadn't so successfully blackballed Kaepernick before this. I hope I'm wrong, and it still seems to be worth the fight.

That’s a different animal, half the country despised Kaepernick and the kneeling was having a negative impact on their ratings/wallets. Plus, the megaphone of Trump was weighing over them.

 

[cornwalls@6]

I applaud Flores for this. I thought the reasons for his firing, being “difficult to get along with” had a strong whiff of dog whistle about them. As noted above, he’s probably fed up
with this bullshit. And somebody like Daboll just automatically getting the NYG gig, without Flores even being interviewed, was probably too much to swallow. I’d love it he came here as part of the succession plan.

edit: butchered my post. Obviously, Flores did interview with NYG, but feels process was sham.

 

[ngruz25]

I'm deeply amused that Flores somehow sussed out that Belichick was referring to a different Brian. He was either tipped off that the Giants were only interviewing him as a sham, or he knew that Belichick struggles with modern technology. Or both.