This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning.
A bombshell hit the NFL yesterday as former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores sued the NFL and three teams – the Dolphins, Broncos, and Giants – over alleged discrimination during the his interview process with Denver and New York and his firing by the Dolphins.
This is a historic case that could change the NFL (for the better) forever, as it alleges some pretty horrible stuff by people in charge of a few NFL teams and calls into the question the way Black candidates are interviewed for head coaching jobs.
And it all came to light thanks to some mistaken texts sent by Bill Belichick, because of course. The Patriots coach sent a congratulatory text to Flores thinking Flores had gotten the Giants job. But Flores’ interview was still coming up and Belichick realized he sent the text to the wrong Brian – it was meant to go to former Bills OC and new Giants coach Brian Daboll.
If Belichick sent the text to the right Brian this case would have never come to light. Let that sink in for a second. Belichick’s texting miscue has now put the NFL and three teams in a very bad light and the impact this could have on them going forward could be huge.
A lot of people yesterday started tossing around the idea that Belichick sent those mistaken texts on purpose, like Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm. The accidental text!
I usually stay far away from conspiracy theories but I would love for this one to be true.
And why couldn’t it be?
Belichick and Flores have a relationship that dates back for years. He was an assistant under Belichick from 2008-2018 and the two defensive-minded coaches seemed to be very close during those years.
So let’s just say Belichick heard what was allegedly going on with the Giants (that they were hiring Daboll and Flores’ interview was the sham that Flores alleges it was) and decided to alert his pal, knowing that it could possibly lead to what it has led to – the league being correctly called out for discriminatory hiring processes.
If you look at the texts between Belichick and Flores you’ll see a few things that stand out. First, Belichick wrote “Giants?!?!?!” in response to Flores asking “Do you know something I don’t know?” There’s no way Belichick is a “?!?!?!” guy. SIX QUESTION MARKS AND EXCLAMATION MARKS? Not possible. Belichick did that to set the tone for the accidental text. It’s genius.
Flores then told Belichick that he wasn’t interviewing until Thursday, to which Belichick said “Got it – I hear from Buffalo and NYG that you are their guy. Hope it works out if you want it to!”
By bringing up Buffalo he could be speaking a little code and tipping off Flores that this might be an accidental text. Also, Belichick pays attention to everything and had to have known that Flores hadn’t interviewed with the Giants yet. Another Also – I just don’t buy that someone as detail-oriented as Belichick would send a text to a wrong guy, especially when it’s about such a big topic as this one. He’d make sure he was texting the right guy.
Flores then asks Belichick if he knows he’s talking to Flores, not Daboll to which Belichick admitted his mistake, saying he “expletive’d it up” and read the text wrong. He then apologizes and closes the texts by signing it with a “BB” at the end.
And just like that, this whole thing was started. Again, I’m not a conspiracy guy but this one just has all the feels of Belichick trying to do the right thing for a friend while also exposing the league for its despicable hiring practices, and painting a few other franchises in a very bad light.
There’s also a strong chance he did just get confused and sent the wrong text, because conspiracy theories are almost always completely wrong.
Either way, we’re Team Flores over here and hopefully this can all lead to some serious changes in a league that really needs it.
Quick hits: Mahomes classy message to Burrows… 9 Team USA champs looking to defend gold medals… Best value bets for MVP of Super Bowl 56… And more.
– This mic’d up video of Patrick Mahomes’ classy message to Joe Burrow right after the AFC Championship is really good.
– Chris Korman looks at 9 Team USA Olympic champions looking to defend their gold medals at the Beijing Winter Games, which start this week.
– Prince Grimes has the best value bets for who will be MVP Super Bowl 56.
– Get ready for the Olympics with all of our great coverage right here.
[mm-video type=video id=01ftttx24gvgg8nn14h4 playlist_id=01f09p3bf720d8rg02 player_id=none image=https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/video/thumbnail/mmplus/01ftttx24gvgg8nn14h4/01ftttx24gvgg8nn14h4-a20baa8847c3afa816e243bd127cd10d.jpg]