Among the allegations in Brian Flores' class-action discrimination lawsuit against the NFL was a claim that John Elway and other Denver Broncos officials arrived "disheveled" and hungover to a head-coaching interview with Flores in 2019.
Elway, the Hall of Fame quarterback who at the time was Denver's general manager and executive vice president of football operations, released a statement Thursday strongly denying Flores' characterization, which he called "subjective, hurtful and just plain wrong."
Here is Elway's statement in full, via ESPN's Adam Schefter:
"While I was not planning to respond publicly to the false and defamatory claims by Brian Flores, I could not be silent any longer with my character, integrity and professionalism being attacked.
"I took Coach Flores very seriously as a candidate for our head coaching position in 2019 and enjoyed our three-and-a-half hour interview with him. Along with the rest of our group, I was prepared, ready and fully engaged during the entire interview as Brian shared his experience and vision for our team.
"It's unfortunate and shocking to learn for the first time this week that Brian felt differently about our interview with him.
"For Brian to make an assumption about my appearance and state of mind early that morning was subjective, hurtful and just plain wrong. If I appeared 'disheveled,' as he claimed, it was because we had flown in during the middle of the night -- immediately following another interview in Denver -- and were going on a few hours of sleep to meet the only window provided to us.
"I interviewed Brian in good faith, giving him the same consideration and opportunity as every other candidate for our head-coaching position in 2019."
Flores' lawsuit, which accuses the NFL and its teams of various forms of racial discrimination, also takes aim at the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants. The 40-year-old coach spent the last three seasons as Miami's head coach before being fired last month. He recently interviewed for New York's head-coaching job, which went to Brian Daboll.
Flores acknowledged he is putting his coaching career in jeopardy by suing the league but said: "The need for change is bigger than my personal goals."
"In making the decision to file the class-action complaint ... I understand that I may be risking coaching the game that I love and that has done so much for my family and me," Flores said in a statement after the suit was filed. "My sincere hope is that by standing up against systemic racism in the NFL, others will join me to ensure that positive change is made for generations to come."
