Miami Dolphins

Brian Flores is suing the NFL, but he'll still be getting paychecks from the org. in 2022 ... 'cause the ex-Miami Dolphins head coach has been hired to join the Pittsburgh Steelers coaching staff.

As we previously reported, Flores is in the middle of a messy legal battle with the NFL ... claiming its hiring process is rooted in racism -- even using texts from Bill Belichick to make his point.

While the 40-year-old's priority is facing off against the league in court in hopes of bringing change, he'll also be setting his focus on the AFC North ... as Flores will be the senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach for the Stellers next season.

Mike Tomlin spoke about the hire ... saying, "I am excited about Brian Flores joining our coaching staff given his history of developing and teaching defensive players during his time in the NFL."

"Brian's resume speaks for itself, and I look forward to him adding his expertise to help our team."

Flores was 24-25 in his 3 seasons with the Dolphins ... but many were puzzled with his firing in 2021, as it appeared he was finally hitting his stride in Miami.

Brian Flores is putting rumors to rest he and his former quarterback Tua Tagovailoa didn't get along ... saying reports they had beef are flat out wrong!

Flores -- who spent three seasons as head coach of the Dolphins -- reportedly didn't see "eye-to-eye" with the ex-Alabama QB during his tenure with the team.

But, the former coach recently sat down with Chad Johnson, Omar Kelly and Brandon Marshall for his "I Am Athlete" show and said that's just not true.

"I think we had a good relationship," Flores told the guys while reflecting on Tua.

"It was a player-coach relationship. And I think in a relationship like that, the coach challenges the player, and often times the player challenges the coach."

BF added, "There was a great deal of respect between the two of us. So you hear this crazy kind of narrative that's out there, but this is a young man who works, developed, and got better over 2 years and I think he's got a bright future."

Flores and Tua missed the playoffs this season, though, Miami won 8 of its last 9 games after starting the season 1-7.

Despite the late season success, many believe Flores was fired because of friction between him and the star QB ... whom the organization selected with the 5th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Flores knows rumors of the beef likely won't be squashed ... even with the coach addressing the issue with Marshall. But, he says he doesn't care what people believe, 'cause he knows the truth.

"Yeah, the world can think what they want to think. Ask Tua, you know, I think he'd say the same thing."

Cornel West stands with Brian Flores ... telling TMZ Sports he agrees with the former Dolphins head coach that the NFL has a systemic racism problem.

We spoke with the philosopher just a few days after Flores filed his bombshell lawsuit -- one in which he alleged teams are racist when it comes to making hires across the league -- and the former Harvard and Princeton professor told us he couldn't agree more with the allegations.

"The NFL ought to be ashamed of itself," West said. "It's been functioning like a plantation."

West tells us, though, that he believes Flores' suit could be the start of a big change in the league.

"Now," he said, "the chicken's coming home to roost."

West tells us he admires Flores -- lauding the coach for having vision, integrity, courage and humility -- and he says if the NFL focused more on those traits in Black coaches, they wouldn't need the Rooney Rule in the first place.

"Well, the problem is that if they were concerned about quality they wouldn't have to worry about a rule," West said.

"Any time you talk about Black folks -- you're talking about low quality. They got to quit lying about black people."

The Giants are adamant Brian Flores is flat out wrong -- insisting they did NOT decide to hire Brian Daboll before the ex-Dolphins coach was interviewed -- and claiming Bill Belichick had no idea who NY was hiring.

"After we interviewed six exceptional and diverse candidates, the decision on who we would hire as head coach was made on the evening of January 28, one day after Mr. Flores spent an entire day in our offices going through his second interview for the position, meeting with ownership and other staff members, and receiving a tour of our facility," the team said in a statement.

The date's important because the crux of the lawsuit is ... did Flores have a legit shot at landing the G-Men job, or was he given a sham interview to satisfy the NFL's Rooney Rule (it says teams must interview a minority candidate in person prior to making a hire.)

The 40-year-old former Dolphins head coach filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, alleging the league's hiring practices were racist.

And, Flores says he has proof ... a text from Belichick.

We broke the story ... BB sent a message to Flores on January 23, telling his former assistant coach the NYG liked him for the job.

Unfortunately for BF, Bill either texted the wrong person (he meant to send to Daboll, the man who was ultimately hired), or he misunderstood the info he was told.

"The allegation that the Giants' decision had been made prior to Friday evening, January 28, is false. And to base that allegation on a text exchange with Bill Belichick in which he ultimately states that he 'thinks' Brian Daboll would get the job is irresponsible."

The team continued ... "The text exchange occurred the day before Coach Daboll's in-person interview even took place. Giants’ ownership would never hire a head coach based only on a 20-minute zoom interview, which is all that Mr. Daboll had at that point."

Not to mention, the Giants say Belichick has no affiliation with the organization, and played no part in the hiring process.

"Mr. Belichick does not speak for and has no affiliation with the Giants. Mr. Belichick’s text exchange provides no insight into what actually transpired during our head coaching search."

In other words, it doesn't matter what Bill texted, according to the team.

Bottom line -- the Giants are adamant they did absolutely nothing wrong.

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is breaking his silence on the Brian Flores allegations ... calling his ex-head coach's claims "false, malicious, and defamatory."

In Flores' bombshell lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday, the 40-year-old alleged that Ross had offered him cash to tank in his first season as coach of the team in 2019 -- saying Ross was willing to give $100,000 per loss.

The owner, though, strongly denied the claims in a statement Wednesday night ... calling them a bunch of BS.

"With regards to the allegations being made by Brian Flores, I am a man of honor and integrity and cannot let them stand without responding," Ross said.

"I take great personal exception to these malicious attacks, and the truth must be known. His allegations are false, malicious and defamatory."

Ross added that he will cooperate with investigators -- but noted he doesn't anticipate them finding any validity to Flores' accusations.

"I welcome that investigation," Ross said, "and I am eager to defend my personal integrity, and the integrity and values of the entire Miami Dolphins organization, from these baseless, unfair and disparaging claims."

Ross fired Flores following the 2021 season ... and said at the time the decision was made due to the coach's "collaboration" issues with others in the Dolphins' org.

Ex-Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores is adamant he still wants a job in the NFL ... but understands his scathing lawsuit against the league could damage his chances at ever getting a gig again.

Flores -- who's suing the NFL and 3 teams over alleged racist hiring practices -- opened up in an interview with "CBS Mornings" on Wednesday ... saying his legal action is about much more than his career.

"I love coaching, I'm gifted to coach, I know that," Flores said. "The relationships I built with players, coaches, support staff, I'm gifted to coach, I love coaching and I want to coach ... This is bigger than coaching. This is much bigger than coaching."

Flores said he contacted the other 2 teams he's still interviewing with for an HC job -- the Texans and Saints -- and gave them a heads up about the lawsuit ... and added if given the opportunity, he would still happily lead an NFL team again.

"I understand the risks, and yes, it was a difficult decision," he said. "I went back and forth."

When asked about comparing the NFL to a "plantation" ... Flores explained he knew it was time to leave a lasting impact on the league.

"We didn't have to file a lawsuit for the world to know that there's a problem from a hiring standpoint in regards to minority coaches in the National Football League. The numbers speak for themselves. We filed a lawsuit so that we could create some change and that's important to me."

"I think we're at a fork in the road right now -- we're either going to keep it the way it is, or we're going to go in another direction and actually make some real change where we're actually changing the hearts and minds of those who make decisions to hire head coaches, executives, etc."

As we reported, Flores filed his lawsuit after he said he received texts from Patriots head coach Bill Belichick that revealed the New York Giants decided to hire Brian Daboll before ever giving him the chance to interview for the job.

Flores felt like he was only being interviewed to satisfy the league's Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview a minority candidate when a head coaching job opens up.

Flores also appeared on ESPN's "Get Up" just minutes ago ... saying he's willing to sacrifice his career to make a serious difference in the league.

"If I never coach again and there's change," he said, "it will be worth it."

Brian Flores is going scorched earth on the NFL and New York Giants ... filing an explosive lawsuit where the former Dolphins head coach alleges the team's hiring practices were rooted in racism, and he claims a text from Bill Belichick proves it.

The 40-year-old coach filed the class action lawsuit through attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor, Michael J. Willemin, David E. Gottlieb in district court in New York on Tuesday ... and it's shocking.

Flores says he received a text from his former boss and Patriots head coach days before he interviewed with the Giants. During the conversation, Flores says BB congratulated him on landing the new gig.

BF was confused by the comment because he had yet to go in for his scheduled interview, and asked Bill if he had an inside track to their decision.

Belichick eventually admits he misread the information he received ... and tells Flores it was actually a different Brian -- Brian Daboll -- who landed the Giants job.

Flores insists this is proof he was only brought in for an interview to satisfy the Rooney Rule -- which requires teams to interview a minority candidate when a head coaching job opens up.

FYI, Flores and Daboll both worked together under Belichick in New England.

BF claims he was then "forced to sit through a dinner" with new Giants GM Joe Schoen despite "knowing that the Giants had already selected Mr. Daboll."

And Flores says this wasn't the first time he's been subjected to a "sham interview that was held only in an effort to comply with the Rooney Rule."

The fired coach says he interviewed with then-Broncos general manager John Elway and other Denver execs in 2019 ... however, Brian says "it was clear from the substance of the interview that Mr. Flores was interviewed only because of the Rooney Rule."

Flores also claims Elway and the other Broncos execs showed up an hour late for the interview and "looked completely disheveled, and it was obvious that they had drinking heavily the night before."

Brian -- who points out there's only 1 Black head coach (Mike Tomlin) and 6 GMs -- is suing on the behalf of all prospective Black coaches and front office employees.

Flores is asking the court to fix the NFL's alleged discriminatory hiring practices, in addition to damages.

There's more ... Flores also accuses Dolphins owner Stephen Ross of offering to pay him $100K per loss -- in an effort to tank the season and get a better draft pick.

Flores says when he refused to play ball, he was labeled as being difficult to work with, and ultimately fired.

"This is reflective of an all too familiar 'angry Black man' stigma that is often casted upon Black men who are strong in their morals and convictions while white men are coined as passionate for those very same attributes," the lawsuit reads.

Flores -- who is currently without a coaching gig -- understands the lawsuit could possibly prevent him from landing a job in the future.

"God has gifted me with a special talent to coach the game of football, but the
need for change is bigger than my personal goals," Flores said in a statement released by his lawyers.

Will Smith ripped a fart so hard during a workout with the NFL's Miami Dolphins he asked if there was a shower around ... and the hilarious chain of events is all on video.

The actor was getting stretched out for a training session with the Dolphins when he seemed to relax just a tad too much, suddenly breaking wind with a loud fart ... and drawing tons of laughs from everyone in the room.

Will's chalking it up to what was in his cup, saying ... "training with the Miami Dolphins was going great until that morning coffee snuck up on me."

Yes, we've all been there ... only difference is, Will had an entire camera crew capturing his every move.

Reshad Jones -- a former Pro Bowl safety for the Miami Dolphins -- was arrested in Florida on Wednesday after cops say he was illegally carrying a loaded firearm.

According to a police report, obtained by WPLG Local 10, cops made contact with Jones at around 4 a.m. after witnesses say the NFL free agent was walking around Davie, Fla. gas stations carrying a gun.

In the report, officers say when they began questioning the 32-year-old former Miami defensive back ... they noticed the firearm sticking out of his pants.

Cops say Jones told them he did NOT have a concealed weapons permit ... and initially complied with their arrest orders for him to get on the ground.

Officers in the report, though, noted Jones later became combative ... and "appeared to be on the influence of an unknown substance."

Cops in the report also say Jones reeked of booze.

Jones was eventually arrested and booked. Jail records show he's since been released.

Jones had a great career for the Dolphins after being picked by the team in the 5th round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played in Miami for 10 seasons, starting 113 games and recording 21 interceptions.

Jones was released by the 'Fins after the '19 season ... and he's yet to latch on with another team.

Miami Dolphins QB Ryan Fitzpatrick was CRUSHED to hear he'd been benched in favor of Tua Tagovailoa ... telling reporters Wednesday, "My heart just hurt all day."

Fitzmagic had the 'Fins rolling the past few weeks ... dude was 3-1 in his last 4 starts with 10 total TDs -- but the team decided to hand the keys over to Tua this week regardless.

And, when 37-year-old Fitzpatrick was asked how he felt about the decision ... he couldn't hide his pain.

"It was heartbreaking for me," Ryan said, before admitting he knew this day was coming eventually after the team had drafted Tagovailoa in the 1st-round last April.

"It still, just, it broke my heart yesterday," Fitzpatrick said, "and it's a tough thing for me to hear and to now have to deal with but I'm going to do my best with it."

Ryan learned of the decision Tuesday ... and he said having to head into meetings Wednesday was tough as hell for him.

In fact, Fitzpatrick straight-up said it felt like he had been fired by head coach Brian Flores.

"I basically got fired yesterday and today my day consisted of zoom meetings with the guy that fired me and sitting in a room with the guy who replaced me for four hours."

Fitzpatrick added, "I felt like it was my team."

The Dolphins are on a bye this week ... and have said Tua will take over the starting QB reins in Week 8 against the Rams.

This could be a huge problem ...

The Miami Dolphins have been granted permission from the governor of Florida to allow full capacity at Hard Rock Stadium.

You read that correctly. We're talking 65,000 seats. In the middle of a pandemic.

The green light comes by way of Gov. Ron DeSantis -- whose spokesperson told Andy Slater the team is now allowed to pack their stadium as part of statewide removal of COVID-19 stadium restrictions.

That doesn't mean the Dolphins will rush to allow 65,000 people to watch the team at their next home game ... Slater says the org. still plans on limiting the number of fans to 13,000 at the next home game on Oct. 25.

The news comes on the heels of an announcement from the Green Bay Packers -- which just pressed pause on the possibility of opening up Lambeau Field to fans any time soon.

"Due to the concerning increase of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the Green Bay area and across Wisconsin, the Green Bay Packers today announced that the organization has put an indefinite hold on hosting fans for games at Lambeau Field this season," the team said in a statement.

Plus, with NFL teams like the Tennessee Titans, New England Patriots, K.C. Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders dealing with possible COVID outbreaks among the players ... it just doesn't seem like the best time for a team to pack a stadium with people!!

THE DISRESPECT IS REAL!!

Cam Newton says Miami Dolphins players tried to snatch the chain off his neck after his Patriots won on Sunday ... and it's all on video.

The New England QB was wrapping up a 21-10 victory at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough when cameras showed several Dolphins players jawing at Cam.

At one point, a hand reaches into the camera frame and tugs violently at Cam's neck -- it looks like the chain was snapped, but Cam managed to save it.

Eventually, Cam's teammates stepped in and separated the players.

The QB changed into his snazzy yellow outfit and talked about the incident after the game.

"I still got my chain," Cam said with a smile ... "I got two of 'em. So you could see. It was disrespect, they was reaching for my chain, though."

He continued, "I think that kind of got under my skin. But yeah, through it all, man ... listen -- I do not want nothing to be taken away from a great team game that we did have. And I don't want to be selfish to kind of focus or dwell on that."

"I think for us as a team, or me personally -- a lot of tempers can flare. And I was just teasing with Coach, just letting him know that the College Park almost came out in me."

Later on, Cam posted on social media about the incident -- saying, "Tried to snatch my chain and the game ... too bad I got both!"

Two Dolphins players responded.

Miami defensive end Shaq Lawson wrote, "We don’t won’t that weak ass chain."

And defensive tackle Raekwon Davis added, "Man ain’t nobody want your fake ass chains shit was weak anyway."

WHAT IS GOING ON HERE??!

For the first time in team history, the Miami Dolphins will wear a special patch to honor an individual person -- the late, great Don Shula.

Coach Shula passed away back in May at 90 years old -- and the team has decided to honor his memory during the 2020 NFL season.

All players will wear a special patch on their uniforms with Shula's last name and the number 347 -- which represents his record number of wins as an NFL coach.

The team says, "This will be the first time in the Dolphins' 54 seasons that a patch will be worn to honor an individual."

The team will debut the patch at their season opener on Sept. 13 against the New England Patriots.

Shula is a bona fide NFL legend -- he broke George Haas' all-time wins record in 1993 before finally retiring in 1995.

He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997.

"Don Shula's lasting impact on the Miami Dolphins, NFL and South Florida community is immeasurable," Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said.

Awesome news out of Miami ... Dolphins 1st-round pick Tua Tagovailoa has been declared fully healthy by the team -- this just months after the QB suffered a gruesome injury.

Tua -- who dislocated his hip, fractured his pelvis, broke his nose and suffered a concussion in a game last November -- has just been cleared to practice with the 'Fins.

Head coach Brian Flores made the announcement Wednesday ... saying, "He's through the physical. And when we do get to practice, you'll see him out there."

Of course, it's amazing news for the 22-year-old ... some wondered if Tua would ever be able to walk properly again -- let alone play NFL quarterback -- after the initial diagnosis.

In fact, some experts compared the injury to Bo Jackson's, which ultimately cost the former Raiders superstar his career in both football and baseball.

But, Tua's repeatedly said this offseason his hip has been healing well -- he even posted workout footage in the pre-draft buildup back in April to prove it -- and clearly, the Dolphins now agree.

This looks AWESOME!!

The Miami Dolphins have announced they're converting Hard Rock Stadium into a drive-in, outdoor theater ... so you can watch live events, movies, etc. from your CAR!!

And, the mock-up photos look pretty cool!

"[Hard Rock Stadium] will now feature both an open-air and drive-in theater that will showcase select Miami Dolphins matchups from the team’s 54-year history, classic motion picture films, host commencement ceremonies and other events," the team said in a statement.

"The family friendly experiences will provide a unique environment while staying in accordance with social distance policies."

The drive-in event space can hold up to 230 cars -- while the open-air theater "can host small groups for an intimate viewing experience on the complex’s south plaza."

Unclear when the drive-in theater is set to open -- but it seems like it's a priority, since it could be a long time until we get live fans back at NFL games.

Question is ... how much would you pay to drive-in to watch a football game or a movie?

Miami Dolphins owner Stephen M. Ross insists the 2020 NFL season will NOT be canceled due to COVID-19 ... saying the 2020 season will "definitely" happen.

I think there will definitely be a football season this year," the billionaire real estate mogul said Tuesday morning on CNBC's ''Squawk Box.''

"The real question is will there be fans in the stadium?"

"I think right now today we're planing on having fans in the stadium but I think the NFL is looking at, and is very flexible, so that we will be able to start on time and really bring that entertainment that's really so needed to all of us in this country."

"I think that's one thing that we miss is our sports. I don't think a lot of people realize it until they no longer have it. Certainly the NFL I think will be ready to go and I think we're all looking forward to. I know I am."

"We've got a lot of things down in Miami here and we're prepared either way and hopefully there'll be fans in the stadium."

It's the most definitive statement we've heard from an NFL owner about the 2020 season while the coronavirus pandemic rages on.

Of course, the league has been moving forward as if everything will run according to schedule ... the NFL Draft took place in April and free agency began on time.

As we previously reported, Joe Buck recently said multiple networks are kicking around innovative ideas to make NFL broadcasts fun and exciting without fans ... one of the ideas is artificial fan noise. So far, nothing is set in stone.