Broncos' John Elway answers to Brian Flores' allegations and lawsuit

In the wake of a law brought against the NFL, the Broncos, the Giants and the Dolphins by former Miami coach Brian Flores, reactions continue to emerge.

Brian Flores' lawsuit implicates Broncos' John Elway

On Thursday, Denver Broncos president of football operations John Elway released an extensive statement in which he called allegations about him included in Brian Flores' lawsuit against the league and three other teams "false and defamatory.'' It should be noted that the Broncos interviewed Flores for the team's head-coaching job in 2019. That event is part of the basis of Flores' class-action lawsuit against the four previously mentioned parties. Indeed Flores along with his representatives allege that Elway and team CEO Joe Ellis "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." They went on to refer to the interview as a "sham" and also stated, "that the Broncos never had any intention to consider him as a legitimate candidate for the job."

Broncos' John Elway pushes back on Flores' accusations

As things intensify, one thing remains clear and that is John Elways is not having any of it. "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," Elway said in his statement. 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."

In addition to Elway's statement, the team itself has also gone on to say that they have "detailed notes, analysis and evaluations" of the meeting which was also attended by five other people. As things stand, the Broncos recently hired Nathaniel Hackett as head coach after firing Vic Fangio who led the team to a 7-10 record on the season, while Flores was recently fired by the Miami Dolphins.