Former Browns coach accuses team of paying him to lose games amid discrimination lawsuit

Former Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson accused the team of paying him extra to lose games during his tenure as head play-caller the day after former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filed a discrimination lawsuit against the league and its teams. 

Both Jackson and Flores are Black, a rarity among NFL coaches. 

In a tweet on Tuesday, Kimberly Diemert, the executive director of the Hue Jackson Foundation, which works to prevent human trafficking, claimed the Browns offered Jackson bonus pay to lose games during the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

Jackson coached the Browns for three seasons until being fired in the middle of the 2018 season. Jackson infamously posted a 1-31 win-loss record in his first two seasons as head coach, including posting a 0-16 season in 2017. 

“Congratulations #brianflores for your bravery. We have records that will help your case. DM me,” Diemert wrote in her tweet. “@NFL and @nflcommish knew about this and covered it up. They did this @Browns . Paid Brown, DePodesta and Berry bonus $ along with @huejack10 to TANK for 2016 and 2017. @espn”

In a phone interview with ESPN, Diemert said the claim is “well documented” and previously had been “presented to the league.”

In a text message, Jackson shared his support for Flores’s lawsuit against the league, saying, “It’s time to take a stand. What I want is what Brian wants which is for this BS to change for black coaches. I lived this same crap,” ESPN reported. 

Flores filed a lawsuit against the league and three teams — the Miami Dolphins, New York Giants, and Denver Broncos — on Tuesday alleging race discrimination in their hiring practices. 

In his 58-page lawsuit, Flores also alleges that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him $100,000 for every loss during the 2019 season.

In a statement, the Browns said Jackson’s claims were “completely fabricated” and that “any accusation that any member of our organization was incentivized to deliberately lose games is categorically false,” ESPN reported. 

Jackson, 56, became the head football coach of Grambling State University in December.