Brian Flores has filed a lawsuit against the NFL for racism in hiring with the New York Giants, Miami Dolphins and Denver Broncos listed as defendants. Flores accused the Broncos in the lawsuit of interviewing him in 2019 merely to satisfy the NFL’s Rooney Rule.
The NFL responded to that lawsuit with the following statement:
The NFL and our clubs are deeply committed to ensuring equitable employment practices and continue to make progress in providing equitable opportunities throughout our organizations. Diversity is core to everything we do, and there are few issues on which our clubs and our internal leadership team spend more time. We will defend against these claims, which are without merit.
The Broncos interviewed Flores for their head coach opening in 2019 after firing Vance Joseph. Denver ended up hiring Vic Fangio, and Flores took a head coach job with the Miami Dolphins. Fangio was fired by the Broncos and Flores was fired by the Dolphins in January.
Denver general manager George Paton interviewed 10 candidates to replace Fangio last month, opting to hire Nathaniel Hackett.