“That’s getting caught red-handed as we’ve ever seen” - NFL analyst says Mike Mularkey confirming “sham interview” speaks directly to Brian Flores’ lawsuit
In recent days, a new slew of accusations of "sham interviews" and discrimination against certain head coaches have come to light. Among them was Mike Mularkey, who claimed to be the victim of being subjected to a "sham interview."
Speaking on the subject on Pro Football Talk, NFL analyst Myles Simmons said Mularkey's interview was a "bigger deal." Here's what he had to say:
“I almost feel like this is a bigger deal, especially when it comes to Ray Horton, and Mike Mularkey, and the Tennessee Titans, right? I think that that's pretty much as close to getting caught red-handed as we've ever seen."
He went on to detail the punishment he thought was fair, stating:
"You know, if nothing else, this should result in a pretty heavy fine for the Tennessee Titans. When you have somebody who was a part of that process literally telling you that ‘this is what happened, and this was my understanding of it.'"
This is big: Ray Horton alleges the #Titans conducted a sham interview with him in 2016. They hired Mike Mularkey.
Horton's proof: Mularkey did a podcast and said he was told the job is his before anyone else got an interview.
Here's the audio of Mularkey... and it's damning: https://t.co/tRQsxjZVq3
Simmons continued, outlining the time he spoke with the general manager. He stated:
"And we have, you know, I had conversations with the general manager and we're like, 'I don't even know why I'm interviewing you. We know what the result of this is before it occurs.’ So we've seen teams get fined for violating the Rooney Rule before."
Simmons also speculated about what was going on in the minds of the Titans' hiring team, stating:
"And frankly, it makes me feel like ‘oh, you know, the Titans thought ‘Well, we of course know who our head coach is gonna be because he was already here. He was the interim guy. We know him. We knew this. We know that.’ Like that's different than what it should be, right?"
The NFL analyst didn't stop there, calling the incident a "smoking gun." Simmons said:
"And that's a violation of the rules, plain and simple. And so when you have this kind of, you know, proverbial smoking gun or catching someone red-handed like this? That, I think, makes a huge, huge difference in what it is that we're talking about. Because you're right, I mean, it was a pretty remarkable interview."
The more I think about the Mike Mularkey comments, the more impressed I am. He wasn't being grilled. He was casually asked if he had any regrets about his career. He could have said anything. Instead, he freely admitted that he participated in a sham hiring process.
He went on to talk about why the story was "buried" and just how buried it was, saying:
"Where, you know, and this kind of got lost in the sense of an hour-long podcast on a Steelers fan podcast thing. That, you know, yesterday when I saw it, only had 1,200 views on YouTube, which kind of tells you exactly how unpopular this was, and why this got buried."
He finished by speculating as to how Mularkey's experience tied in with Brian Flores' lawsuit. Simmons said:
"So I think I saw you in Shireen talking about yesterday. Somebody probably alerted, whether it was Ray Horton, or Brian Flores, or whoever like ‘hey, this exists and this is out there and you might want to take a look at it.’ Because it speaks exactly what you're talking about in this lawsuit.’”
Where is Brian Flores now?
Some time has passed since Brian Flores filed his lawsuit earlier this year, and many believed the NFL may be coming to terms with what took place. Brian Flores filed a lawsuit alleging discrimination in the days following his firing from the Miami Dolphins.
Most assumed the head coach would find himself blackballed out of the league after calling out several teams for not giving him a fair shot. It seemed that it was heading in that direction until the head coach got a lucky break with Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
At this point, it is known that Flores called Tomlin for advice and within the next day; he was brought on board.
Of course, he was only given an assistant coaching role as the senior defensive assistant/linebacker's coach, per Sports Illustrated. Despite becoming an adversary to the league, he was able to continue working in the NFL.
Some hope that when this blows over, Flores may get another chance to lead a team one day. However, that day could be a long way away.