"Blatantly false" - Denver Broncos launch scathing response to Brian Flores' lawsuit claims

As news broke about the racial discrimination lawsuit that Brian Flores filed against the NFL and its 32 teams, the Denver Broncos have come out to defend themselves and their position.

The Denver Broncos, who are accused of not considering Brian Flores a serious candidate for the head coaching vacancy in 2019, released a statement Monday evening denying the claims and giving a detailed timeline of the interview that they had with the former Dolphins head coach.

The Broncos statement called the allegations 'blatantly false.' Here's the statement from the team:

“The allegations from Brian Flores directed toward the Denver Broncos in today’s court filing are blatantly false. Our interview with Mr. Flores regarding our head coaching position began promptly at the scheduled time of 7:30 a.m. on Jan. 5, 2019, in a Providence, R.I., hotel. There were five Broncos executives present for the interview, which lasted approximately three-and-a-half hours—the fully allotted time—and concluded shortly before 11 a.m. Pages of detailed notes, analysis and evaluations from our interview demonstrate the depth of our conversation and sincere interest in Mr. Flores as a head coaching candidate. Our process was thorough and fair to determine the most qualified candidate for our head coaching position. The Broncos will vigorously defend the integrity and values of our organization—and its employees—from such baseless and disparaging claims.”

What is Brian Flores accusing the Denver Broncos of?

Baltimore Ravens v Miami Dolphins

The lawsuit is against the National Football League but specifically mentions the Miami Dolphins, Denver Broncos and New York Giants by name. He has said that he is taking action because the hiring practices in the league are "rife with racism" and that he is taking the steps needed to create change.

He said that when he interviewed for the Denver Broncos' head coaching position in January 2019, he didn't feel that he was taken seriously.

He alleges that members of the Denver Broncos front office, including John Elway, arrived late to the interview and appeared 'disheveled' and gave the assumption that they were up late drinking the night before.

From what he has stated in the interview, he feels that the Broncos simply interviewed him as part of the "Rooney Rule," which states that NFL teams must have a diverse (minority) selection of head coaching candidates to be interviewed when they are in the midst of the hiring process.

He is still in consideration with the New Orleans Saints and Houston Texans for their head coaching vacancies and said that he informed both teams that he would be following through with the lawsuit but is still interested in the open positions.