NY Giants share blunt response to Bill Belichick's texts amid Brian Flores lawsuit
The New York Giants are the latest NFL team to respond to former head coaching candidate Brian Flores' allegations of racial discrimination. The team released a statement regarding the matter on Thursday. Flores' lawsuit also lists the NFL, the Denver Broncos and the Miami Dolphins, where Flores served as the head coach for three seasons.
New York Giants deny their role in lawsuit
One of the main parts of Flores' lawsuit alleges text messages from New England Patriots head coach and former collaborator Bill Belichick indicated that the Giants had decided that they would hire eventual new boss Brian Daboll days before his scheduled interview on January 27. Flores has, thus, alleged that the Giants only interviewed him to satisfy requirements set forth by the "Rooney Rule," which mandates that teams interview minority candidates for coaching and management positions.
While the team acknowledged that Flores "raised serious issues in the filing of his complaint," the Giants denied the allegations, saying that the decision to hire Daboll was made on January 28 and that the allegation that it was before that is "false."
Texts from Bill Belichick to Brian Flores, congratulating Brian for landing the #Giants job.
Belichick thought he was texting Brian Daboll. He was texting Flores by mistake.
https://t.co/Y686XcjYC3
"To base that allegation on a text exchange with Bill Belichick in which he ultimately states that he 'thinks' Brian Daboll would get the job is irresponsible," the statement released on the team website reads. "The text exchange occurred the day before Coach Daboll's in-person interview even took place. Giants' ownership would never hire a head coach based only on a 20-minute Zoom interview, which is all that Mr. Daboll had at that point."
The Giants attached Daboll's itinerary from his interview at the end of the statement. It includes a tour of the team facility and three separate discussions with new general manager Joe Schoen.
The #Giants just released a detailed statement refuting Brian Flores’ claims in his lawsuit against the #NFL, and included this detailed itinerary of his interview in NJ: https://t.co/yX7Tnbngih
New York further insisted that Flores was a legitimate candidate, noting that principal owner John Mara called him two days after the Dolphins dismissed him on January 10 and planned to bring him in for an interview once they hired a general manager. Schoen, previously Buffalo's assistant general manager, was hired 11 days later.
"Our hiring process and, most certainly, our consideration of Mr. Flores was serious and genuine," the team said. "We are disappointed to learn that Mr. Flores was under the mistaken impression the job had already been awarded."
"In his CBS interview yesterday, Mr. Flores was asked if 'clubs have the right to hire the person they think is the best qualified for the job or the person they feel is right for them?' Mr. Flores responded, 'They do. That's very reasonable to me . . .'. That is exactly what we did."
The Giants aren't the only team that has responded to Flores' allegations: Denver president of football operations John Elway, who has, likewise, been accused of staging a "sham" interview, stated that his candidacy, this coming in 2019, was entirely legitimate. The lawsuit claims that Elway and team CEO Joe Ellis showed up to the discussion an hour late and looking "completely disheveled," allegations that Elway denied in a statement obtained by ESPN's Adam Schefter.
"While I was not planning to respond publicly to the false and defamatory claims by Brian Flores, I could not be silent any longer with my character, integrity and professionalism being attacked," Elway said. "I took Coach Flores very seriously as a candidate for our head coaching position in 2019 and enjoyed our three-and-a-half hour interview with him. Along with the rest of our group, I was prepared, ready and fully engaged during the entire interview as Brian shared his experience and vision for our team. It's unfortunate and shocking to learn for the first time this week that Brian felt differently about our interview with him."
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