PITTSBURGH — By my count, Brian Flores has cost his former boss two good coaches (Flores and Sean Payton), one great quarterback (Tom Brady), a little bit of money, two valuable draft picks and his reputation, such as it was.
That's a win for Flores, any way you slice it, and yet Ross claims victory.
Flores was so obviously wronged, in so many ways, and yet Ross claims aggrievement.
I guess that's how it works when you're a self-righteous billionaire. You figure you can get away with anything because you usually can, and you figure people will believe what you say simply because you say it (unless you're "joking" ... more on that in a minute).
Ross tried to bury Flores, and now look: Flores buried him.
Well, almost.
The angry billionaire got suspended for a few months and lost draft picks, but he won't have to pay the full penalty — giving up his team — for trying to secretly steal Brady and Payton from their respective clubs and for possibly offering his coach a monetary incentive to lose.
The NFL's investigation, led by former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White, found that Ross and the Dolphins had "impermissible communications" with Brady as early as August 2019, while Brady was still with division rival New England. The dalliance with Payton came later.
These were acts of tampering so brazen that even the owners' highly paid water boy, Roger Goodell, labeled them "unprecedented" Tuesday in announcing the weak Ross suspension and the docking of Dolphins' first- and third-round picks.
I'm not sure about unprecedented, but I do know it took Flores — now an assistant coach with the Steelers — filing a civil lawsuit against the NFL and its teams to get the league off its rear end and launch an investigation into the Dolphins' shady dealings.
And even then, there were delays. You might remember that when Flores filed his racial discrimination lawsuit in February, the NFL immediately and pompously responded with a three-sentence statement claiming it was "without merit."
Six months later, the discrimination part remains unsettled, but the sidebars are making Flores a prophet and Ross a fool. The Dolphins are forfeiting draft picks because Flores had the guts to expose their tampering scheme with Brady, a scheme that would have entangled Flores had he not walked away from it (and how does Brady escape unpunished?).
Meanwhile, Ross has responded to this with all the indignation you might expect. I picture an angry oligarch pacing his mansion, punching at air and probably yelling at an assistant to take down his dictation.
"The independent investigation cleared our organization on any issues related to tanking and all of Brian Flores' other allegations," is what the Dolphins tweeted out Tuesday, via Ross.
Actually, the Dolphins weren't "cleared" of any of that. Flores, in fact, appears to have been right on with the allegation of tanking, or at least Ross' desire to tank, which is why I believe his contention that Ross offered him $100,000 per loss if he intentionally lost games in 2019.
Goodell apparently believes Ross said it, too, only he claims Ross' offer "was not intended or taken to be a serious offer."
OK, so Ross made it clear to his most important employees that he was highly interested in losing games but when it came to a monetary offer, he was just joking?
There's truth in a joke, you know.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk addressed Goodell's sidestep adroitly:
"The NFL couldn't afford to punish Ross for tanking because the NFL is still defending the wrongful discharge claim brought by Flores against the Dolphins, along with other claims against the Dolphins and other teams. (Also, in an age of legalized wagering, any suggestion of an effort to not win games would trigger legislative, administrative, and/or judicial scrutiny.) So the league, while acknowledging that Ross engaged in behavior that should have resulted in punishment, simply decided not to punish him, at least not for tanking."
Also, we all know that "joking" can serve many purposes. It can be a lead-in as the means to achieve an objective, a lead-in where the jokester can always claim he was, well, joking.
Hypothetical example:
Ross (laughing) to a coach: "I'll even give you $100,000 every time you lose."
Coach: "Wait, really? Can we talk about that?"
And they're off. The joke would have been a way to launch a serious topic without incriminating oneself. So if the coach objects to the "joke" and even reports it — as Flores did — the perpetrator can always say he was, well, joking.
Flores deserves the last word here. This was part of the statement he released Tuesday:
"I am thankful the NFL's investigator found my factual allegations against Stephen Ross are true. At the same time, I am disappointed to learn that the investigator minimized Mr. Ross' offers and pressure to tank games. ... (And) while the investigator found the Dolphins had engaged in impermissible tampering of 'unprecedented scope and severity,' Mr. Ross will avoid any meaningful consequence."
Of course he will, but I'm still crediting Flores with a big "W" here.
