Flores: Interview with Giants was ‘sham,’ Dolphins owner offered $100,000 bonus to tank

Former Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores did multiple television interviews Wednesday morning to detail his racial discrimination allegations and lawsuit against the NFL, Giants, Dolphins and Broncos.

Flores said on “CBS Mornings” that he was “humiliated” by interviewing for a job with the Giants that he believes the team had already made a decision on. In his lawsuit, Flores, who is Black, alleges that the Giants settled on hiring Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll for their head coaching position before bringing Flores in for an interview. 

“It was a range of emotions — humiliation, disbelief, anger,” Flores said. “I worked so hard to get where I am in football to become a head coach. I put 18 years in this league, and to go in on what was a sham interview, I was hurt.”

Included in the lawsuit are text messages from Patriots coach Bill Belichick — intended for Daboll but inadvertently sent to Flores — congratulating him on getting the Giants job before he had interviewed. Flores believes this means that the Giants had already decided to hire Daboll before his interview. Flores’ lawyers, who also appeared on CBS, alleged that the Giants went forward with Flores’ interview to “comply” with the Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview minority candidates for head coaching, coordinator and general manager positions. 

“The Rooney Rule was intended to give minorities an opportunity to sit down with ownership,” Flores said. “What it’s turned into, it’s just guys checking a box.” 

A bombshell lawsuit accuses the NFL of racism in hiring coaches — and now the former coach who filed it is speaking out for the first time on #CBSMornings.

Brian Flores says, “It’s hard to speak out…but this is bigger than football. This is bigger than coaching.” pic.twitter.com/hI92p8rvEd

— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) February 2, 2022

The Giants released a statement Tuesday when the lawsuit surfaced.

“We are pleased and confident with the process that resulted in the hiring of Brian Daboll,” reads the 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.” 

Flores, who was fired by Miami on Jan. 10 after back-to-back winning seasons, also did an interview with ESPN’s “Get Up!” during which he explained his allegation that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 for each loss during the 2019 season. Miami was one of the worst teams in the league that year, and a worse record would have led to a higher draft choice. Flores said “trust was lost” after Ross offered incentives for losing. 

“That was a conversation about not doing as much as we needed to do in order to win football games,” Flores said. “Take a flight, go on vacation, I’ll give you $100,000 per loss — those were his exact words.”

Former Cleveland coach Hue Jackson suggested on Twitter Wednesday that he was also paid extra to lose games, claiming that Browns owner Jimmy Haslam was “happy while we kept losing” and that the amount he was paid was a “good number.”

A few current and former NFL coaches have defended Flores since the lawsuit was filed. Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy tweeted in support of Flores Wednesday.

“One year ago I wrote a letter to NFL owners saying the NFL had a problem only they could solve. Not a lot has changed,” Dungy wrote. “Brian Flores’ suit shows the frustration many black coaches have.  It could be just the tip of the iceberg. Something has to change!”

Washington coach Ron Rivera, appearing on “CBS Mornings” to discuss the team’s new Commanders nickname, was asked about Flores’ lawsuit and also supported the former Dolphins coach. 

“I think there is something to be looked at there, I really do,” Rivera said. “I think what Brian is doing is really a brave thing, because in this world, in what we do, we’ve got to be willing to open our eyes and really decide on merit.”