THURSDAY: Denying Flores’ claims that he offered six-figure bonuses for 2019 losses, Ross indicated the Dolphins will cooperate with an NFL investigation (Twitter link via ProFootballNetwork.com’s Adam Beasley).
WEDNESDAY: A day after Brian Flores filed a lawsuit that, among other allegations, accused Dolphins owner Stephen Ross of offering $100K for each Dolphins loss in 2019, the NFL will investigate the matter, Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com tweets.
Considering the seriousness of Flores’ accusation, the league taking action so soon does not surprise. The NFL’s investigation does not yet have a timetable, per the Washington Post’s Mark Maske (on Twitter), but this matter will not be going away anytime soon. The league will also investigate other rules violations, per Mortensen. The Dolphins have denied Flores’ allegation.
Flores accused Ross of offering those payments to boost the Dolphins’ prospects of securing top draft position in 2020. When Flores went 5-11, GM Chris Grier allegedly communicated to the since-fired Miami HC that Ross was unhappy the team slid to the No. 5 overall position in the 2020 draft. Instead of the rebuilding team picking first in 2020, which would have placed Miami in position to draft Joe Burrow, the Dolphins selected Tua Tagovailoa at No. 5. Despite Tagovailoa being a Dolphins target for several months, Burrow’s record-breaking 2019 season prompted the team to shift course. The Dolphins were unable to turn their three first-round selections into that year’s No. 1 pick, with the Bengals selecting Burrow first overall.
This investigation will obviously generate interest, as the Dolphins were committed to a full-scale rebuild in 2019. Gutting the team to produce losses and payments coming as a result of those defeats are certainly different matters. Ross would stand to face significant punishment if the latter can be proven. Interestingly, NFL.com’s Cameron Wolfe notes a Dolphins source was aware of Ross offering the bonus payments for every 2019 loss (Twitter link).
I have no idea, but funny how these allegations come to light after he is fired. Why wait? Also who was behind all those terrible trades in his first and second year? What did they come away with; nothing but bad draft picks. Who is responsible for that roster management?
GM Chris Grier.
If you think he took the HC job w/o any permission for roster building, then that’s on you.
No way would I even think about a HC job w/ 0% say over the roster. I really wouldn’t.
I’m in the middle of “Guts and Genius” book covering J Gibbs, B Parcels, and B Walsh. Trust me, those coaches had say in their rosters. Gibbs refusing to trade D Williams after he asked to be traded, Walsh bringing in Young w/ Montana on the roster, and LT for Parcells.
Gibbs, Parcells, and Walsh weren’t rookie head coaches. Flores didn’t have 1/10th of the leverage that they did. I don’t think Flores was able to walk into contract negotiations with high demands
Actually, all 3 were rookie HC’s. Read the book if you don’t believe me. Yes they coached for some 15-20 years at different titles (as all do), but all 3 were rookies taking over in NY, DC, & SF.
Flores somehow had enough leverage to pull a 5-year guaranteed deal in the same coaching cycle as everyone else got 4. He’s got 2 more years left to collect on that deal while he sits at home on the couch.
Why do people always question the timing of going public with allegations? Do you think it makes them less true? Why?
Please let me know how you think it would have went for Flores if he went public with allegations that his owner was trying to fix games via cash payments *while he was still with the team*. Do you think it would have gone well for him?
If I was applying for any job, let alone a national high profile job, and was told by ownership to fail; I would have walked. Simple as that.
I don’t buy Brian had zero percent on the roster & told to lose at the same time. He doesn’t come across as that dumb.
The goal is to win championships not games. And you can’t win without an elite QB. So losing to get an Elite QB is Not failing. #onestepbacktwostepsahead
That said management should never put anyone in the position to not try their best. Aka trade away everyone, let them play their hearts out.
That’s different than what Brian says. He didn’t want Tom Brady, whom gave him a ton of cash and rings, to be his QB.
And you’re wrong, Brian will go down as a losing HC for the Fins. I hope he can continue his career. But his teams stunk. Besides the last elite QB Miami had was Marino. He retired in 1999, I believe.
“His teams stunk.”
Tell me more about the horrors of 2 consecutive seasons above .500
His record was 24-25. Do you consider that top be ‘good’? I don’t.
Why don’t you take a look at the roster he was dealt in his first year; it was absolutely abysmal. Look at any preseason projection; Miami was expected to be by far the league’s worst team. And yet, they actually managed to win some games down the stretch.
Following that season, Flores’ record was 19-14. Pretty good for a team with a mediocre QB. I stand by what I said
As do I, his body of work was pretty average. All those high picks & 1 game above 500 this year? That’s not very compelling.
You mean the picks he didn’t make? Also, development takes time
I don’t know their structure, but if I was tasked with a rebuild like Brian was, I would want say on the roster and picks. Maybe not 100%, but no way I would accept 0% influence on the roster.
He was terrible at building a coaching staff. Rampant turnover every year. 2 OC’s this year; huh?
Now I whole heartedly agree w/ Brian there’s something amiss about hiring practices. And I would wager that NYG already knew who they wanted as their HC and simply ‘fulfilled’ the Rooney Rule by bringing Brian in. The new GM came from Buffalo; so going after a coach he is familiar with is very common.
Who says he gets the coaching position if he asks for management influence? Most first time head coaches don’t. My point being, you can only work with who’s on your roster. Miami exceeded their projected win total every year of Flores’ career, which IMO, is an indication of a good coach.
I have no idea if he was being paid to tank or not and frankly, neither does anyone on this page, which is why it’s kind of funny everyone already has a clear opinion about it
We’ll find out if he was paid to tank. Look at his bank records for that. According to him, it was $100k per loss and they lost 11 times. So he should have a million and change more than what was on his contract right? And if true, both the owner and Brian should be kicked out of the league.
All of the assistant coaches that come from NE seem to have similar personality traits. Which is to be obnoxious and to a degree bullying, if you will. BoB, Brian, Matt Patricia, Eric Mangini(?), McDaniels et al. They all come across as jerks and not very well liked by the players.
Or he’d have no extra money since he turned down the offer?
If he was actually offered the bribe, I would have reported right then and there to the league. Being bribed too throw games? That’s a death sentence in sports. He knew that.
But it will be interesting to see his evidence on that allegation. Hope it’s a bit more than a screen shot of a text.
So, he should come out and blow the whistle knowing full well that he’d get fired and blackballed for doing nothing wrong while Goodell would send the same people who investigated Snyder to whitewash Ross?
And you want MORE than texts? Like, hopefully he wore a wire or has some DNA evidence or something? Maybe Flores can cross examine Ross on the stand like Cruise vs. Nicholson in A Few Good Men…”You’re $*% #&# right I ordered him to tank!”
If he has evidence from 3 years for bribes to throw games and didn’t do anything, that’ll ruin his career much faster. How can you trust him if you’re another owner?
And yes, evidence is pretty important in this lawsuit. I can guarantee you the Giants, Broncos, Fins and the NFL will have a bit more evidence than a screen shot.
I can guarantee you the Giants, Broncos, Fins and the NFL WILL have a bit more evidence…AND that when Flores’ lawyers try to get their hands on that evidence in discovery, the NFL will fight them like it’s a goal line stand to prevent it.
Oh it’s going to get ugly. I don’t disagree with that one bit. We all know the same thing right now, Brian’s accusations and the 3 teams vehemently denying those allegations. But there’s a reason we have a court system, so each party can present their side and then its decided. Everyone on this thread is 100% convinced Brian is right for some reason. I’m not saying he isn’t but its pretty early for fans to decide who is or isn’t guilty.
Personally, I think John Gruden has a better case. He wasn’t employed by the NFL when those emails were written. And if it is proven the league released them, that’ll be a whammy.
Jon Gruden has ZERO case.
In what way, shape or form is the NFL obligated to protect him from his own words?
“They knew all that racist stuff I said would make me look bad!!! This is all THEIR fault!!!”
So your former employer’s can release emails too defame you? Sorry that’s not how it works. Jon was employed by ESPN, not the NFL at that time.
And wait until those emails come out, that’s going to crush the NFL. It just wasn’t the DC GM and Jon. I bet $100 many other executives & coaches around the league were on there which is why the league is covering up the DC portion.
If Brian’s side can prove in court, he was offered bribes and he chose to be quiet about it for 3 years, we’re talking about a scandal as big as the Black Sox from 100+ years ago, the NBA ref tanking games, & Pete Rose gambling scandals. There was a reason the league kept gambling out for so many years. I think they have allowed it for the past 2-4 years max.
Yes, your former employers can release emails even if they make you look bad because they have no legal obligation to hide your racism.
WHY would they?
Gruden has no case. If others join Flores, they might and they might be granted discovery.
So, no, league execs don’t have much to fear from the Gruden suit. HOWEVER, the exact same execs MIGHT have much to fear from the Flores suit…which might well reveal the same things.
So, one day after declaring his suit “without merit” they are now going to investigate…
No doubt it will be a thorough examination of the facts.
Goodell will use the same investigative team that pretended to investigate Robert Kraft’s Florida adventure.
I believe the allegations. But the NFL can’t deal with this level of scandal and will sweep it under the rug along with their inherent racism. It’s truly pathetic.
Nothing in the lawsuit seemed like racist behavior. Bad/clumsy management technique(s), but nothing else. Now if you are talking about the raw counts of black coaches being an indicator, where is your evidence an owner/GM would hire a head coach that they know was no good based on his skin color – especially since almost a quarter of the league’s head coaches are given the boot every year.
Supposedly, there’s a witness and corrobating evidence in the form of texts from Grier.
If these are true, I don’t see how Ross gets to keep the team. You’re bribing your own coach to throw games. It would be one of the biggest scandals in NFL history in my opinion.
If this is true then it’s a terrible look for Ross and the NFL. It’s also a terrible look for Flores. How can Flores be so beside himself over this yet wait until he was fired (an entire year later) before he reported anything? Things just don’t line up here.
An entire year later? That was 2019, we’re now in 2022. He claimed that changed everything for but decided to stick around for two more years, and probably 2 more yet if he wasn’t fired. If he truly wanted to be courageous he could have and should have stepped forward in 2019.
Fiers 2.0. Hard to say a guy should ruin a good career to “do the right thing”, but also hard to entirely absolve them of blame as well.
If I was hired to fail, I’d never take the job. Simple as that.
You really are a broken record
Just because you wouldn’t do something doesn’t mean everyone else would make the same decision. You also have absolutely no idea what it’s like having to make that decision because you’ve never been in this particular situation
I have no idea if the allegations are true or not. However, waiting until now to reveal this sort of coaxing makes sense; why would Flores have sacrificed possibly his only chance of ever being a head coach? What if the scandal were swept under the rug? It would have all been for naught
Great points. To me, when someone makes serious allegations like Flores has, the defense will attack their credibility. Right or wrong, Flores waiting until he was fired and passed over for subsequent jobs shows his true colors. If he gets that Giants job does he still make these claims? I doubt it. He wants to keep his job. Blowing the whistle now just looks petty. Thus, I feel like his credibility has taken a hit.
His 1st season the Fins were 5-11. If the owner offered an additional $100,000 per loss, his bank records should show an additional $1.1m right?
@ arty. The word “fail” is not part of the Marine vocabulary. Semper Fi.
this is like Congress investigating the malpractice of one of their committees. no, someone else must step in for legitimacy.
“We have investigated ourselves and found that we have done nothing wrong.”
Hope Flores has all those uncashed checks he got for tanking? You ALL know he didn’t accept any of that dirty money!
I bet it says on the memo line of the Ross’s check: “Tanking bonus!”
You’re right, he’s a man of conviction, a standup dude. But he took their money for 3 years and will continue to take a full salary the 2 years to stay home, and only made these allegations after they told him his services weren’t needed anymore.
If Ross was paying someone to actually lose games on purpose how is this any different than a gambler paying players to tank games? This is the worst scandal to hit pro sports since Pete Rose. What exactly was Flores thinking when he even said this? He has to be the dumbest moron on the face of the planet to implicate himself in a scandal when he’s trying to find a job. I think the billionaire boys club needs to have a blackball meeting. Or like Animal House, be on Double Secret Probation.
I agree with the first part of this, but not the part about Flores. First, he’s not saying that he partook in it, only that Ross was making the attempt. But second, he’s already getting passed over for jobs left and right, so I don’t think he’s any more worried about not finding a job than he already was.
He was getting passed over because he was demanding total control, and because he’s obviously a moron.
I called the Rooney Rule a sham and was called a racist by MaximumVelocity( Also known as,” The flagger”). So I guess Hue Jackson and Flores are also racists. If he is in the comments board and your post is flagged or gone you know where to look. He is a noted McCaskey apologist so take it for what it’s worth. He needs to go back to twitter, where he belongs as he has no place in a free will message board.
Unclemike this is actually worse than point shaving. Paying players to win a game by less than they are favorite isn’t as bad as paying them to tank and lose.
Point shaving hurts gamblers. Tanking hurts the game.
In other news today Old White Men are going to investigate old white men buddies.
And in other news, Las Vegas betting odds on NFL games and the new sports betting services are committing suicide right now as bettors are going to sue to recoup some of their losses. The first lawsuit is probably underway, Not to mention The US AG’s office. Hey Merritt, where for out though? Drew Brees is already planning his comeback as his spokeman gig looks like it’s in serious trouble already.
Federal Racketeering is no joke.Rats err whistle blowers will all get time too.And Billionaires will be fined millions and the feds won’t be using Vaseline on anyone.Federal court,feds win like 80% of the time because they made up the rules.
Oh, And while I’m at it, Goodell and his crackerjack NFL Investigative Division should all be indicted in the cover up. The crackerjack team that investigated every wife beating, Drug selling, Sexual assault and general stupidity and managed in every case to come up with the exact same results as the Police Force EVERY TIME!! They just took 15 times as long to NOT do it! Gimme a Break.
Sham interview processes happen all the time in the real world. It’s common practice for an employer to already have in mind who they want for the job, but oftentimes hiring policies put in place require them to post the job opening and interview a certain number of people even though they already know who their hiring. It sucks to be the one “dragged through the process” or used simply to fulfill an obligation, but it’s not uncommon. Doesn’t make it right, but it also doesn’t make it racism. The Rooney rule is helping in some ways, but in many cases it’s just making pons out of some of the very people it’s trying to help.
So you blame the rule and not the people intentionally making a mockery of it?
I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that a senile old coot like Ross would actually believe losing positions on the draft board is a disaster. The 49ers won four meaningless games at the end of their 2017 season losing draft position but that didn’t prevent them from reaching the SB just a couple of years later.
Not all games are fixed but I’d guess around 90% are. The officials are usually the ones to determine the outcome hearing a coach do it is a bit unusual but I am not floored by it.
Last year someone paid Kevin King on the Packers a boat load to tank that NFC Championship vs the Tampa Bay. Not sure if it was for gambling purposes or if they just wanted Brady back in the Super Bowl. It’s amazing people don’t see it really. Oh he had a bad game people say come on how many game breaking mistakes can you make? And then they hired him back the next year because he did his job.
Look at the Sunday Night Game with the Raiders and Chargers. All the flags the officials threw on the Chargers after game changing huge plays. I don’t understand how people think these games are on the up it really boggles the mind.
sounds like you have been making a lot of losing bets… I will make it easy for you. ALWAYS bet the team with the best QB… So how about the Super Bowl… Well Stafford is so underrated it is ridiculous… Best QB out of Texas versus best QB out of Ohio… I will take Texas…
BREAKING NEWS
Nfl owner accused of purposefully trying to tank games for better draft position.
Unrelated news, in 2019 dolphins traded away
Ryan Tannehill, netted a 2020 4th round pick
Robert Quinn, netted a 2020 6th
Laremy Tunsil, netted a 2020 and 2021 1st
Minkah Fitzpatrick, netted a 2020 1st round pick
Kenyan Drake, netted a 2020 5th
[Note: all details of trades involved more, just highlighting the 2020 draft assets primarily]
link to si.com
Weve never [suck for luck] seen this, [trevor lawrence to jags] before in [doug peterson pulling hurts against washington in 2020 to get #6 pick instead of #20] nfl history!
You want to cite history go back and watch that Eagle-Washington game again. The one where Hurts was 7-20 for 72 yards, zero TDs, and interception. His decision making and throws were downright awful. The Eagles defense got an interception gave him the ball at the Washington 20 and 7 plays later he got them zero points. Even if Sudfeld wasn’t promised to play going into the game, everyone knew it was happening, Hurts deserved to be yanked due to his pathetic performance.
Cause Nate Sudfeld going 5/12 0 tds 1 int was better lmao. Yeah sure man. We all know draft position played a part. Wanna respond? Come prepared with better facts. Sudfeld definitely wasnt the spark and pulling a guy youre trying to evaluate as your “franchise qb” a whole quarter made 0 sense, especially for a game youre supposedly trying to win and make the playoffs
The eagles were down 17 to 14 entering the 4th so your whole spin is trash. Horrible play and youre down 3 so course answer is pull him a whole quarter.
link to espn.com
The Eagles were 4-10-1 going into that game, they were not “supposedly trying to (win and) make the playoffs”. Even if they didn’t promise him pt the play of Hurts was horrible and certainly warranted it. Sudfeld was a loyal part of the team, they promised him some gametime to put on tape and help land a job somewhere else. That loyalty paid back goes a long way in the locker room and in free agency signings. Sudfeld numbers weren’t much better than Hurts but they certainly were better. Not bad for a guy lucky to be in the NFL against a guy some disillusioned people think is a starting QB. You obviously didn’t watch the game and you really need to lay off those foreign substances.
The ethics of proper tanking has always been the GM puts the worst team he can on the field, but the coach and players do their best.
Paying coaches to lose breaks that code.
Right. First rule of fight club dont talk about fight club.
The NFL can fix this in a second – by not assigning draft position by W/L record.
sounds fair but I do not think there is as much tanking as you think… It is rare there is a clear number 1 in NFL but in NBA they usually have the first four just right as this year for example.
Non-playoff teams should draft in reverse order. Worst team in the league drafts 18th. You just miss the playoffs, you’re at the top. Would make tanking a lot less prevalent.
3 Good coaches out of 25 blacks hired so far.
Only Dungy and Tomlin and Caldwell have been above average black coaches and Dungy could not handle the stress of the job. There are 6 black GM’s that can hire a black coach anytime they want. Also more than a fair share of black OC and DC but of course the media will not mention this… As far as owners nothing to stop Michael Jordan from buying the Broncos.
My opinion is black head coaches are too soft and you have to be a real jerk like Belichick or George Allen or Lombardi to succeed. Lawrence Taylor should get a shot.
Sham interviews I once drove 70 miles for an interview on a Monday. The interview went fine but when I drove home there was a letter saying I did not get the job that same day . What happened ? My guess is they had hired someone the previous week and did not inform HR promptly to cancel remaining interviews. Did I sue the company ? No…
You do understand that people are individuals and you can’t assign sweeping characteristics based on race such as “black head coaches are too soft” in any accurate manner…right?
Love how Stephen A wants white head coaches to come forward and say they were paid to tank. Why in the H E double Hockey Sticks would any coach that actually wants to remain a coach in the NFL voluntarily derail their career? Flores probably is done this is like scorch earth for your career. Jackson knows he isn’t getting another HC job.
I swear sometimes no common sense.
And he’s borderline saying if they oust two owners that they should only be sold to a minority. I would laugh my ace off if it were an Asian or any other minority and see him squawk at that.
Tanking in the NFL is not a foreign idea. We all know who is tanking anyway.
It’s so annoying to see people like Ross just naturally like I’m sure he always has when he gets in trouble attempt to lie his way out of this. It would just be so refreshing if he just admitted it and said he made a terrible mistake and he is human. People would respect him so much more. But no we all have to watch him lie when everyone knows Flores isn’t making this up. Lying in our culture is accepted when getting into trouble.
*LIE* not naturally like
Kraft went into a “ Massage Parlor” and got away with it. Old white guy investigating another old white guy, nothing is going to change.
Who really cares if Old Man Kraft went to massage parlor? I bet even his wife said Phew, at least it’s not me.
Watched the whole interview with Flores’s two NY “lawyers” who filed the claim… They came across as arrogant New York lawyers who claim Flores has been so mistreated because of race.. The Dolphins organization is loaded with minority employees top to bottom. You can view the staff on their webpage. An African American GM (who sucks btw) and an African American Head Coach (Flores) who was paid MILLIONS. Why didn’t he walk away from the organization if Ross truly made those comments? Interesting note that the GM Chris Grier also turned on Flores.. I think every Dolphin fan would be ok if they tanked for Joe Burrow, they were not making the play-offs…. How do you intentionally throw a game without letting your whole staff know you are doing it?? DC and the “two” OC, other coaches.. None of them have come out. Finally, we come to this.. Sure discrimination is still around and always will be. Not everyone can be Ned Flanders.. United States has more African American millionaires than any other country, more African Americans that attend college, a former African American President and so on.. As someone who runs a business, we hire people that are the most qualified.. Regardless of race or gender.. Clubs should be able to hire who they want period… The Giants put out a time line statement yesterday that details by time every interaction they had with Flores.. Read it if you haven’t. I’m all for equal opportunity but if you want to hire a non minority coach because you feel he is best for the job than so be it! Coach Flo was roped into this by two slick NY lawyers and now will pay the price.. Nice knowing you Flo.
But is he considered AfricanAmerican? He’s the son of Honduran immigrants. Wouldn’t he be Afro-Latino or Black-African American?
Meant Afro-Latino American or Black-Latino American.