Brian Flores’ media tour continued Tuesday with an appearance on HBO’s “Real Sports,” where he claimed the Dolphins wanted to silence him with a nondisclosure agreement, and expounded on his relationship with Bill Belichick. But publicity doesn’t win legal cases. Facts do.
Flores’ lawsuit alleges racial discrimination in the NFL’s hiring practices, and he names three specific teams: the Giants, Dolphins and Texans. Flores’ central claim holds merit: there are only two Black head coaches in the NFL. Belichick’s mistaken text, which spurned Flores’ suit, indicates the Giants decided to hire Brian Daboll as their head coach before meeting with him.
That is the definition of a sham interview.
But Flores is speaking on more than his racial discrimination claims. Let’s start with the NDA. One of his attorneys tweeted out screenshots of the agreement Miami wanted Flores to sign when they fired him last month. If Flores signed the contract, he would’ve been barred from making “disparaging” comments about the organization.
He says his refusal to sign the paper cost him $6 million.
The Dolphins, meanwhile called Flores’ claims “categorically false.”
While there’s no doubt Miami wanted Flores to sign an NDA, the question remains whether the document represented a gag order, or standard operating procedure. As the Globe’s Ben Volin points out, it’s typical for teams to present fired coaches and executives with severance agreements that safeguard them from legal action.
In fact, that’s a common practice across business. Companies offer departing employees compensation in exchange for legal protection all of the time. This is a different kind of NDA than what organizations offer victims of sexual misconduct in exchange for their silence.
Flores also brought up the charge about Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offering him $100,000 per loss in 2019, but hasn’t presented any corroborating evidence at this point. His attorneys promise the evidence is coming.
The other takeaway from Flores’ “Real Sports” interview were his comments about Belichick. The former Patriots assistant said he hasn’t spoken to Belichick since filing his suit. On Monday, Flores praised Belichick on Brandon Marshall’s “I Am Athlete” podcast, even calling him the “GOAT.”
Those kind words are different than what Flores said about Belichick two weeks ago on an NPR podcast. He inferred Belichick played a role in the Giants hiring Daboll over him. “It was clear to me that decision was made with his influence,” he said. “That’s part of the problem. That needs to change.”
On top of that, Flores’ attorneys needlessly disparaged Lovie Smith when they added Houston to their suit. They said it’s “obvious” Flores’ lawsuit is the only reason he wasn’t hired.
It’s hard to prove “obvious” in court.
Flores is taking a brave and commendable stand going against the NFL. But all of these public statements risk distracting from his case, and turning this whole affair into a game of tabloid hearsay.