Hue Jackson is applauding Brian Flores’ efforts to battle systemic racism in the NFL, to say the least. Flores filed a class action suit against the NFL and New York Giants, among other teams, alleging violation of the integrity of the Rooney Rule in the Giants’ hiring process that ended with former Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll being named head coach. Flores also claimed Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him as much as $100,000 to lose games in 2019 for better draft positioning, i.e., tanking — while naming Denver Broncos executive John Elway in the lawsuit as well.
Moments after that news landed, with rumors of other coaches potentially joining the suit, Jackson made his own claims against the Cleveland Browns and owner Jimmy Haslam, an organization he once coached.
Jackson, who took the lead role in Cleveland in 2016, departed just over two years later with a record of 3-36-1 that included an 0-16 season in 2017. Currently employed as head football coach at Grambling University, Jackson began with what was a simply and mostly innocuous reply to the news, but things escalated rapidly from there.
“Well, Jimmy Haslam was happy while we kept losing,” Jackson said, via Twitter.
The 56-year-old was immediately attacked for his implication, but he didn’t back down, instead pushing his assertions that much more aggressively. When a user on Twitter told Jackson that had Haslam offered $100,000 for each loss, Jackson would “be on the Forbes List,” the Grambling head coach fired back with a sharpened stick.
“Trust me it was a good number!” he wrote. “… I stand with Brian Flores. I…
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