NFL investigating Brian Flores' racism claims one day after saying they have no merit

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Miami Dolphins v Cincinnati Bengals

The Brian Flores lawsuit is shaking up the NFL world. He has taken on the entire league over unfair hiring practices and has specifically called out the New York Giants, Denver Broncos, and Miami Dolphins.

The former Dolphins head coach is sticking with his story as he makes the media rounds this week. Yet the NFL was quick to respond with a denial to everything Flores said. They claimed the lawsuit was "without merit" from the start.

Field Yates

@FieldYates

The NFL has released a statement in response to Brian Flores’ claims, which it says “are without merit.”

5:39 AM · Feb 1, 2022

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The NFL has released a statement in response to Brian Flores’ claims, which it says “are without merit.” https://t.co/97CbHXT6CJ

After being named as defendants in the lawsuit, the NFL immediately put out a statement. That should mean they will just ignore it and move forward, if they do, indeed, believe it has no basis in reality.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat reporter Rick Stroud made a great point once it was revealed the NFL will now investigate Flores' claims against the Dolphins and other teams.

Rick Stroud

@NFLSTROUD

But it had no merit. twitter.com/mortreport/sta…

Chris Mortensen

@mortreport

The NFL will investigate the specific allegations that Brian Flores has made concerning Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offering him $100,000 per-loss incentives in 2019 to gain a better draft position, a league source said. Other potential rules violations also will be investigated.

7:03 AM · Feb 2, 2022

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The NFL will investigate the specific allegations that Brian Flores has made concerning Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offering him $100,000 per-loss incentives in 2019 to gain a better draft position, a league source said. Other potential rules violations also will be investigated.

But it had no merit. twitter.com/mortreport/sta…

What may be the case here is that the NFL is more concerned about a team potentially tanking than the fact minority head coaches, like Flores, are being denied fair opportunities. That, in itself, is a whole other story. But an investigation now proves the league was too fast to deny all the claims. The optics now are that the investigation won't be looking to find anything that goes against the league.

NFL is now investigating Brian Flores' claims

Indianapolis Colts v Miami Dolphins

The basis of the situation here is that the NFL is going to investigate a situation on its own after saying the reason for the investigation has no merit. That has some already believing this will be a sham.

Shaun King

@shaunking

The @NFL is actually incapable of leading the investigation into the claims made by Coach Brian Flores.

Brian filed a complex 58 page lawsuit.
The NFL claimed it was ALL “without merit” HOURS later.

I propose @TonyDungy and an independent outside agency lead the investigation.

8:32 AM · Feb 3, 2022

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The @NFL is actually incapable of leading the investigation into the claims made by Coach Brian Flores.

Brian filed a complex 58 page lawsuit.
The NFL claimed it was ALL “without merit” HOURS later.

I propose @TonyDungy and an independent outside agency lead the investigation. https://t.co/7kOP39JkXk

Gregg Bell

@gbellseattle

The NFL’s disingenuous statement on Brian Flores suing the league over coaching hiring.

So the NFL already conducted/completed an investigation of his “without merit” claims—on the same afternoon they were filed?!

No matter what they say, the proof is in 100-year-old pudding

6:20 AM · Feb 1, 2022

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The NFL’s disingenuous statement on Brian Flores suing the league over coaching hiring.

So the NFL already conducted/completed an investigation of his “without merit” claims—on the same afternoon they were filed?!

No matter what they say, the proof is in 100-year-old pudding https://t.co/i2euvaVIhS

The league may now have to seek an independent investigator after the backlash it is facing because of this entire situation. That is true for both the discrimination and tanking allegations by Flores.

One other point fans are bringing up is that the league has a history of long investigations over less systemic issues, such as deflated footballs in the Deflategate scandal.

Megan Imbert

@meganimbert

.@nfl Let’s not forget, deflategate resulted in a 243 page report about the PSI of game balls. A 10 month investigation into the treatment of people interviewing over 120 people resulted in “oral updates”.

There must be Transparency in order for there to be Accountability.

10:47 AM · Feb 1, 2022

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.@nfl Let’s not forget, deflategate resulted in a 243 page report about the PSI of game balls. A 10 month investigation into the treatment of people interviewing over 120 people resulted in “oral updates”.

There must be Transparency in order for there to be Accountability.

The NFL is a privately-run business; therefore, it is able to conduct its own investigations on just about any matter. It also has the option of hiring an independent investigator if transparency is ever the goal.

Investigating a claim that is "without merit" does not make much sense, and the league created an even larger public relations issue with that statement. How they conduct the investigation will reveal whether or not they are truly looking for evidence that could make the league look bad.

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Also Read: Will Peyton Manning be the next Broncos owner?

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