Stephen Ross waited until midnight on the East Coast to respond to Brian Flores accusations that he offered to pay him to purposely lose games.
On Wednesday, the Miami Dolphins owner dropped a fiery statement saying “his allegations are false, malicious and defamatory.”
He also plans to cooperate with the NFL investigation.
In the suit, Flores’ representatives said the seeds of his firing this offseason were laid in his first year with the team in 2019 when team owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 for each of the Dolphins’ losses to improve their draft pick.
Miami wound up finishing 5-11, and Flores said he was told by general manager Chris Grier that Ross was “mad” at the Dolphins’ success because it was “compromising [the team’s] draft position.”
The suit also includes allegations about Ross’ push for the franchise to land an unnamed “prominent quarterback” in contravention of NFL rules:
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“After the end of the 2019 season, Mr. Ross began to pressure Mr. Flores to recruit a prominent quarterback in violation of League tampering rules. Mr. Flores repeatedly refused to comply with these improper directives. Undeterred, in the winter of 2020, Mr. Ross invited Mr. Flores onto a yacht for lunch. Shortly after he arrived, Mr. Ross told Mr. Flores that the prominent quarterback was ‘conveniently’ arriving at the marina. Obviously, Mr. Ross had attempted to “set up” a purportedly impromptu meeting between Mr. Flores and the prominent quarterback. Mr. Flores refused the meeting and left the yacht immediately. After the incident, Mr. Flores was treated with disdain and held out as someone who was noncompliant and difficult to work with.”
