In what could prove to be the fastest open-and-shut case in legal history, Stephen Ross hired a black man to be head coach and now is being sued for not hiring a black man to be head coach.
It’s like suing “1+1” for not equaling 2. You cannot dispute facts.
Yes, there is more to it of course, but the sour grapes of the Giants not anointing Flores as head coach obviously rubbed him the wrong way, and he decided to take it out on the league and the Dolphins.
This is one of the few times ever that I take Stephen Ross’s side of things…and that is extremely rare.
A side story involves Flores’s claim that Ross offered him bonuses to tank on purpose 2 years ago. So in other words, Ross was trying to do the right thing (for once!!!) and lose games to help our draft position, but Flores’s pride and ego undermined the entire organization.
The Giants went with the hottest name out there. I don’t know their office personnel, so who knows if racism was involved. But Ross seems to put money where his mouth is, and he contributes to anti-racism causes and has even set up foundations. I don’t defend his football decisions, but (on the surface) this is the first allegation of racism against Ross that is becoming public.
Even when guys are no longer part of the Dolphins, they become distractions. Over and over, the Dolphins are known for off-the-field issues, but at least this time it’s a disgruntled ex-employee lobbing the allegations, and not a current Dolphin.
Sorry, the comments got wiped by mistake
Hard to have an opinion on this because no one knows the exact facts, there are just claims. What is dissappointing is that Flores will now probably never coach again in the NFL, which sucks. If all the allegations regarding his inability to “get along” with others are true, I think that this is easily overcome and he should get another chance. But now, I dont see how he is hired again.
Well whistleblowers are protected. So no one can say “We’re not hiring Flores because he is a trouble maker” or they will be sued again.
I agree, I don’t see how Flores gets hired again as a head coach. He’s burning down the house!
But the Ross pay-to-lose scheme does not look good either so I appreciate his anger and uncomfortable situation if that is indeed true. That might explain everything.
I love the John Elway late and hungover for interview anecdote.
Ross gave the guy $20 million over three years. Show some g.d. class and keep certain things private.
Elway shows up drunk. Belichick accidentally texts the wrong Brian. Yet Ross is the one under fire.
Only in Miami !
Why am I not surprised Ross has dragged the organization into another embarrassing shitstorm? It’s not realistic to say the least but the best outcome for Dolfans in this scenario is if a lot of damning facts come out about Ross and the NFL forces him to sell the team. If you want precedent, for years the NBA Clippers’ Owner was racist Donald Sterling. After he was caught on tape for saying vile, racist things, the NBA forced him to sell the franchise and they have gone on to the most successful decade of their existence. And for those who say that there is no proof that Ross is a racist since his GM is also black, just remember that the GM of the Clippers for over 2 decades that Donald Sterling owned the team was Elgin Baylor. If you think about it, Grier is the perfect cover for a racist owner.
Am I missing something? How do what we know so far implicate Ross as a racist? Maybe the Giants and Broncos can be suspected by not giving Flores a legit interview, but how is Ross. Now, if the Flores claims are true, Ross is definitely a despicable and non-moral person willing to throw games and risk his coache’s reputation in the process, but a racist? Now, if more information regarding his racial feelings become known or if I am missing something, I’ll galdly stand corrected.
I guess the logic of Flores’s lawyers is to throw everything at the wall and see how much money they can get. Ross hired a black head coach and then is sued for not hiring a black head coach? They know they cannot go after Ross’s racism, so the embellish stories about the tanking season 3 years ago. They pull old stories out of their hat and claim that Ross bribed Flores for losses. That is NOT a terrible strategy, by the way. Teams bench their starters in Week 17 all the time to rest them for playoffs or to prevent injuries etc. It’s very common when teams do not go all out to win games. Flores didn’t grasp that concept.
This is just a giant failure by, forgive me, dumb front office people. You can tank without implicating and ruining your coaches reputation or force him to make immoral decisions. You play Rosen, this is a win-win. If he sucks, then you have effectively tanked and can get your number 1 pick, but if he succeeds, then you have your QB. I mean you just traded for Rosen and spent capital on him. This was such a no-brainer, I cant believe a billionaire and someone who has been elevated to GM cant figure this out.
WestCoast, I think they DID figure it out. Flores was the one who could not figure it out. It was clear as day that we shoulda played Rosen. Getting five meaningless wins are useless in the big picture. Ross and Grier clearly understood that. Flores and his gigantic ego did not.
That’s why I’m saying, for the first time ever, Ross was correct in his logic!
I get it but if I am GM and I put a plan together and trade for Rosen, he is playing whether the coach likes it or not or he gets fired, period. Then the owner can decide me or him. This is where Ross needs to assert himself and end the dispute.
With our luck, Rosen would have played and end up winning games just like Fitzpatrick did, LOL
I hope this puts pressure on Ross and forces him to sell! In other terms Flores might just save the franchise. Hell he gets Ross to sell I hope the new owner gives him his job back for all I care!
Two final thoughts: 1) If Flores is the reason we ultimately rid ourselves of the scourge of Ross, then Flores is the most consequential historical figure of the Miami Dolphins in the past 20 seasons…give the man a statue and call it day. And 2) I know a lot of you have questioned whether Ross is a racist and I have no proof since he has a black GM and hired a black coach…BUT, if the plan was to tank all along and Flores’ allegations are true ($100,00 per loss), what’s more racist than hiring a black head coach just to accumulate a bunch of losses for a few seasons on his record, so you can fire him quickly after for some bullshit excuse (lack of communication/collaboration) and hire the white coach you wanted all along to coach all the draft capital that the 1st coach helped collect? Something stinks…and it’s usually Ross when it comes to the Dolphins.
Both points are true! Besides the best thing that can happen is Ross is forced to sell!
We know by this point Flores wasn’t fired because of how the team was progressing but because Flores didn’t want to do things that Flores thought was unethical (weird considering his NE past).
Sorry to anyone who disagrees but a boss firing you because you won’t break the rules no matter how much he’s paying you is completely wrong. Besides Flores will probably never coach again after this.
He (Ross) is dispicable regardless even if FLores’ accusations are false as he has shown complete imcompetence in running a team. He is immoral and a criminal if he truely was trying to force Flores to tank. There would still be no proof that what you say he might have done was true (racist). Is it a poosibility, sure. But to accuse him of this would be very premature and wrong in its’ own right.
I’m not saying Ross is racist one way or another. Flores accused him of all this stuff and to be honest I’m not even sure Flores called Ross racist. I know he said broncos and giants were since the jobs weren’t really available for him. But Flores has brought his proof and we will have to wait for the investigation which will probably be sanitized and a lot will be covered up. In the end very doubtful we will ever figure out what was right. But there’s a scenario where Ross takes a deal and is forced to sell. And that’s a good day for every dolphin fan.
I’m not so sure if the new owner will be any better. It’s gonna be Bruce Beal, Ross’s NY City business partner. We don’t know what type of man he is yet, but he seems like another billionaire with money to burn and not a lot of interest in the fans or the Dolphins winning.
cant say I disagree with anything you said here.
Interesting scenario. Use Flores as a scapegoat. Could be something Ross would do!
But I doubt if Flores was fired over the “refuse to tank” allegation that had occurred two years prior. I think there was a whole series of events, over the past 3 years, where Flores’s ego would not allow him to compromise or budge. Remember when Minkah Fitzpatrick simply wanted to try playing safety? Flores wouldn’t budge. You should not need an 82-year old man telling you that winning 5 meaningless games will hurt the team. Better to win 1 or 2 at most and position ourselves for the Top draft pick. Flores should have been doing this on his own to begin with. No one ever says “lose the game on purpose.” Instead, it’s considered, “giving some rookies a chance to see what they can do.” It is no different than a playoff team who goes into Week 18 and rests all their starters. Are they trying to lose on purpose? No! But are they trying to win a meaningless game? NO again. Flores didn’t get it.
If the bribery offer is true, Ross will get a fine and probation, and the Dolphins will face a ban on post-season play for a year. This will bite the fans as much as Ross.
Impossible to prove a bribe is true. I think they may take away draft picks though. Patriots did NOT face a postseason ban over inflate-gate; as a matter of fact, they won it all the year Brady got suspended!
With everything going on what’s going on with coaching news. Does Harbaugh even entertain coming into this knowing there’s probably gonna be discipline to the team. Even if there isn’t there will be a media shit storm much like the incognito days.
Harbaugh just announced he is returning to Michigan.
Guess Ross likes to keep things in the family with Bruce Beal being the heir apparent in succession planning. Maybe he’ll be smarter than Ross and stay out of this “business” and focus on what he knows!
Hopefully Harvard taught him something. Ross needs to go.
Ross can’t sell now, because he will look guilty as hell. He has to stay and fight this, for his reputation, so I bet we’re stuck with him.