Brian Flores is suing the National Football League, the Miami Dolphins, the New York Giants, and the Denver Broncos for racial discrimination.
Flores makes a lot of allegations against the league, the Dolphins and the Giants, which are worth reading up on, but we’ll focus on his allegations levied against the Broncos in his 58-page lawsuit for this article.
Flores alleges that when he interviewed for the Broncos job, back in 2019, the interview was a “sham” which the Broncos used to follow the Rooney Rule. The Rooney Rule is a rule that states that when interviewing candidates to fill a head-coaching vacancy or a senior front-office vacancy, every team must make sure to interview at least one candidate who is an ethnic minority. Flores’ suit claims that the Broncos only interviewed him to meet that quota and that he never actually had a chance to earn the job.
“Incredibly, [his 2022 interview with the Giants] was not Mr. Flores’ first sham interview that was held only in an effort to comply with the Rooney Rule,” Flores’ lawsuit states. “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.”
That’s a damning allegation levied against Elway, Ellis and the entire Broncos organization. What makes the whole situation tougher is that, given the NFL’s past issues with giving minority candidates a fair shot, it’s possible.
The Broncos released a statement later on Tuesday afternoon to state that Flores’ allegations were false.
“The allegations from Brian Flores directed toward the Denver Broncos in today’s court filing are blatantly false,” the statement opened.
“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 Broncos continued. “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.”
The Broncos also released a quote from Flores which took place after their interview, to argue their case.
the #Broncos sent out a quote from Brian Flores after he interviewed with them. #BroncosCountry @DenverChannel –> pic.twitter.com/U30fXNihEv
— Lionel Bienvenu (@lionelbienvenu) February 1, 2022
It appears as if this story is only beginning, and hopefully we’ll receive more clarity in the near future. Seemingly, the Broncos will want to resolve this matter ASAP as the team has been cleared for sale and a new owner will likely want to steer clear of negative news about the organization.