Source: Michael Reaves / Getty
The biggest story this week in the NFL looked like it was going to be the official retirement of Tom Brady after 22 years in the NFL, but that has pushed to the back burner and rightfully so, for the lawsuit filed against the NFL by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. In the suit that was filed on Tuesday, Flores says that prior to his scheduled interview with the New York Giants, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick texted him a congratulatory message on getting the job as the team’s head coach. Shortly after sending the message, Belichick responded apologizing and saying that the message was intended for Brian Daboll, who eventually was eventually named the Giants coaching earlier this week.
Flores also has accused Stephen Ross of undermining his coaching tenure in his three years with the team, starting with the 2019 season where he alleges that Ross offered him $100,000 for each loss in an attempt to establish better draft position for a “prominent quarterback” in the 2020 NFL Draft. Flores said in multiple television interviews yesterday that he simply couldn’t bring himself to purposely lose games and that he believes that him winning as much as he did in his first season created some animosity from Ross, eventually leading to his firing earlier this offseason.
Dan Lust, sports attorney and sports law professor for New York Law School, joined the Mac Attack earlier this morning to talk about the lawsuit and said that the NFL should be concerned about this.
“I think this case has teeth. I think it’s gonna get discovered. I think there will be depositions. That’s why, if you’re asking why this case is scary (for the NFL), it’s because it is a class action lawsuit, not Colin Kapernick vs. 32 NFL teams. It’s tens if not hundreds of coaches and general managers that applied for these positions against the 32 teams. It’s much more of a collective action. I think this has a lot of potential and Stephen Ross should be worried.”
-Dan Lust, Sports Attorney and Sports Law Professor at NY Law School
