John Elway could stay quiet no longer.
In his lawsuit, among other things, accused Denver Broncos brass of disrespectful behavior. In the suit, Flores claims that in a 2019 interview for the Denver head coaching vacancy, John Elway and former Broncos executive Joe Ellis were late and “completely disheveled” from an evening of heavy drinking.
“[I]n 2019 Mr. Flores was scheduled to interview with the Denver Broncos. However, the Broncos’ then-General Manager, John Elway, President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Ellis and others, showed up an hour late to the interview. They looked completely disheveled, and it was obvious that they had [been] drinking heavily the night before,” the lawsuit alleges.
“It was clear from the substance of the interview that Mr. Flores was interviewed only because of the Rooney Rule, and that the Broncos never had any intention to consider him as a legitimate candidate for the job. Shortly thereafter, Vic Fangio, a white man, was hired to be the Head Coach of the Broncos.”
The Broncos said in a statement that Flores’ allegations directed at the team are “blatantly false.”
On Thursday, Elway released a statement on his own behalf to fire back at Flores and his allegations.
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Flores expanded on his claim in an appearance Wednesday on ESPN’s “Get Up.”
“I’ve had nine interviews with NFL clubs,” Flores said. “There was one interview where anyone was late, and that wasn’t me that was late, that was the interviewers who were late, and that was with the Broncos. I think there was a reason why they were late. I think they had been out the night before.
“When you sit at a table with five people who are interviewing you, you can tell who is asking questions, who is into the interview, who is not necessarily in the right state in that moment. But even then, I put my best foot forward and showed why I was a good candidate for that job. I’m always going to do that. But I certainly did not feel like I was taken seriously, and I was just there as a Rooney Rule [candidate].”
Flores believes the situation with the Broncos and Giants are similar, as both franchises had their own candidate chosen and were only satisfying their Rooney Rule requirement.
