Brian Flores lawsuit accuses dolphin owner Stephen Ross of paying trainer $100,000 per loss in bid to get better drafts

BOSTON (CBS) – Brian Flores file an important lawsuit against the NFL on Tuesday. While the main focus was on the fact that the Giants allegedly decided to hire Brian Daboll as head coach before interviewing Flores about the job, it also lobbied for some serious allegations against the Dolphins – the team that had fired Flores last month.

Among the accusations, Flores said team owner Stephen Ross offered to pay him an extra $100,000 for every loss in 2019, in an attempt to try to get a better draft pick. .

“[Flores] refused his owner’s directive to ‘tank’ for the first pick in the draft,” the lawsuit alleges. “Indeed, during the 2019 season, Miami’s owner, Stephen Ross, told Mr. Flores that he would pay him $100,000 for each loss, and the team’s General Manager, Chris Grier, told Mr. Flores that ‘Steve’ was ‘going crazy’. winning the matches that year was ‘compromise [the team’s] draft position. ‘”

That season saw the Dolphins swap places for defenders Ryan Tannehill, Minkah Fitzpatrick, Kenyan Drake and Laremy Tunsil.

With a weak roster, the team started the year 0-7. But Flores led the team to a 5-4 record in the final nine weeks of the season. Around the NFL, that’s considered a win. Flores’ lawsuit paints a different picture within the Dolphins.

The Dolphins finished with a fifth overall pick in the 2020 draft, where they picked Tua Tagovailoa. Full-back Joe Burrow was first started by the Bengals, who won 2-14 in the 2019 season.

The lawsuit also alleges that Ross pressured Flores to violate NFL spoofing rules to recruit a “striking quarterback” after the 2019 season. Tom Brady was a contracted “outstanding full-back” will be void in March after the 2019 season, although the lawsuit does not specifically name him.

Flores’ lawsuit alleges that after his initial denial, Ross set up a no-nonsense run with the said quarterback. From the suit:

After the 2019 season ended, Mr. Ross began to pressure Flores to recruit a prominent quarterback for violating the Federation’s cheating regulations. Mr. Flores repeatedly refused to comply with these improper instructions. Undeterred, in the winter of 2020, Mr. Ross invited Mr. Flores to the yacht for lunch. Shortly after arriving, Mr Ross told Mr Flores that the outstanding quarterback had “convenience” to the marina. Apparently, Mr. Ross was trying to “stage” a purposeful impromptu meeting between Mr. Flores and the famous midfielder. Mr. Flores declined the meeting and left the yacht immediately. After the incident, Flores was belittled and looked down upon as non-compliant and difficult to work with.

Since that time, Mr. Flores has been ostracized and eventually fired. He was subsequently smeared throughout the media and the League because he was branded by fellow Dolphins as a difficult person to work with. This reflects the all-too-familiar “angry black” stigma that is often applied to Black men who are strong in their morals and beliefs while white men are said to be passionate. very similar properties.

Obviously, such accusations are extremely serious. The NFL has yet to make any statement on the matter, although an investigation will certainly be launched to uncover such allegations.