Doc's Morning Line: There's a super storm for NFL ahead of Bengals-Rams Super Bowl

Calm before the Super Storm, and we’re not talking about the current weather. Which, as everyone knows, is shaping up to be this week’s storm of the century.

Brian Flores’ lawsuit isn’t going away. The NFL very likely will ask that it be dismissed and maybe it will be, same as Jon Gruden’s was earlier this year. Regardless, if the league doesn’t do a thorough investigation of Miami owner Stephen Ross, something’s wrong.

Flores’ claims of racial discrimination in hiring got most of the attention Wednesday, and rightfully so. But the not-so-little matter of Flores’ claim that Ross attempted to pay him to lose didn’t get the headlines it earned.

That’s part of what Flores claims in the lawsuit. Before the ’19 season Ross, the Dolphins owner, said he’d pay Flores $100,000 for each Miami loss. That’s worse than any trashcan lid the Houston Astros clanged, worse than Deflategate, worse than the misdeeds of Peter Edward Rose.

Ross has denied all of it. “I am a man of honor and integrity and cannot let them stand without responding," he said in a statement. “I take great personal exception to these malicious attacks, and the truth must be known. His allegations are false, malicious and defamatory.’’

Wire services:

The NFL issued a statement after the lawsuit came out, saying in part that Flores' allegations were "without merit." However, a league source told ESPN's Chris Mortensen earlier Wednesday that that comment pertained only to accusations of discrimination in hiring practices. The source said the league will investigate allegations that Ross offered Flores money to lose games.

OK. How thoroughly?

The league is adept at PR. Its power is rarely challenged and never broken. Nobody who takes on the NFL wins. The league rarely does anything it doesn’t want to do, unless it sees no way out. See: CTE. Brain injuries to former players. Even in that example, once it saw it was on the wrong side of the argument, the NFL did everything it could to pretend it was on the right side of the argument all along.

The NFL was all over the map with Colin Kaepernick, adjusting its stance depending on which winds blew strongest. Now, the NFL portrays itself as an activist for racial unity. It has even donated $250 million over the next decade to that cause. The league has “End Racism’’ affixed to its helmets and painted in its end zones. That’s very nice. How does it square with the very narrow hiring practices of its 32 team owners?

Charity begins at home, yeah?

But we digress.

An owner is alleged to have tried to bribe his head coach to lose games.

What?

Flores:

“That was a conversation about not doing as much as we needed to do in order to win football games," he said. "Take a flight, go on vacation, I'll give you $100,000 per loss -- those were his exact words.’’

Hue Jackson, ex-Browns ahead coach by way of Cincinnati, claims he encountered something similar in Cleveland. Jackson said he can "prove anything and everything that I'm saying. The National Football League knows I can prove anything and everything I'm saying. And I don't run from that. ... If they feel like I'm being dishonest, call me on it, let's sit down in front of everybody and put it out all there and see who's telling the truth."

To be fair, we don’t know the context or tone of Ross’ words to Flores. I don’t doubt he said something similar to what Flores claimed he said. But perhaps Ross was joking. Not likely, but possible. That’s why it needs to be fine-tooth combed.

All that’s at stake is the credibility of the league.

MEANTIME, here’s a list of men who have head-coached three NFL teams without having won a Super Bowl: John Fox, Ted Marchibroda, Wade Phillips, Dan Reeves, Marty Schottenheimer and Norv Turner.

XAVIER WINS, BUT. . . nearly doesn’t. The Musketeers almost blew a 14-point late lead against a mediocre Butler team, at Cintas. Afterward, Travis Steele said, “We gotta put 40 minutes together. We gotta grow up. We have to mature. We have to learn how to finish games a heck of a lot better than we did tonight."

Which sounded like what he has been saying since November.

THE INTERESTING THING about Jim Harbaugh’s fling with the Minnesota Vikings wasn’t that he didn’t get the job. It was that his interview. . . lasted nine hours.

What on earth could they have talked about that required nine hours?

Jim, we like you, but we’re just not sure you know enough about Quantum Physics and the Single Bullet Theory to bring you aboard.

In the NFL, nothing exceeds like excess. In all ways.

THE SIX QBS DRAFTED BEFORE BRADY in 2000, courtesy of Yahoo:

Chad Pennington runs the 1st and 10 Foundation and coaches a high school team in Kentucky.

Hofstra's Giovanni Carmazzi never played a down in the NFL. He once described himself to ESPN as a "yoga-practicing farmer" in California who has five goats and doesn't own a TV.

Chris Redman out of Louisville spent eight seasons with the Ravens and Falcons, starting just 12 games. He is now the president and part-owner of the Louisville Xtreme, an indoor arena football team.

Tee Martin played in just three NFL games in four seasons before spending two seasons in the CFL. After spending several seasons coaching in college, he was hired by the Ravens as a wide receiver coach.

Marc Bulger made $55.4 million in his career. He now runs the Marc Bulger Foundation and has gotten involved in curling.

Spergon Wynn spent three seasons in the NFL with the Browns and Vikings, starting just three games. He is now an energy broker in Texas.

AND NOW. . .Hey Michelle! Is getting revved up for the Onesie Crawl.

Cincinnati Auto Expo: Apparently it’s time to hang out at Duke Energy Center every weekend for all sorts of shows. This weekend, for the 34th year, Duke is showing off the newest model cars, crossovers, trucks, vans, and more. So all of you car lovers can swoon over some of the most luxurious and powerful vehicles on “Dream Machine Blvd.”, sit behind the wheel of the newest rides, and check out collector cars that will be at the Cincinnati Concours d ‘Elegance. And, they have a great scavenger hunt for the kids to keep them busy! You even have a chance to win a car. Thursday 5-9 (admission $1), Friday 11am-9pm, Saturday 10am-9pm, Sunday 10am-6pm.

Asian Food Week runs through Feb. 6 with over 50 restaurants participating. They’re offering “secret menus” featuring 2 or 3 course meals. This is a perfect way to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Is it just a coincidence that it is the year of the tiger (Bengal, no doubt), lucky color orange (Who Dey) and one of the lucky numbers is 1 ( hey Ja’Marr Chase)? Check out the website for all the restaurants and hit up the asianatiofficial IG for fun traditions of the special week! https://www.asianati.com/articles/afw

Get out your onesies, it's time to crawl! Saturday is the 5th annual Onesie Crawl that starts at Below Zero lounge. Hit up as many participating bars as you want. Tickets for the event get you 2 shots, special drink discounts, a scavenger hunt game and more. This is perfect because I just put away my Santacon outfit. Saturday 4pm-11pm.

Rest up this weekend and enjoy having your regular heart rate for a week and wear nothing but Bengal gear!

Do you want to know where to eat, drink and have fun in Cincinnati? Check out my page https://heymichelle-help.com

Imbiber Dave pigs out.

Is it possible to simply imbibe on sports? Not only did Kentucky thoroughly dismantle Kansas on Saturday, but we were then treated to another epic game for the ages on Sunday. We truly soaked up the experience by spending the weekend with our family which just so happens to live in KC- lifelong Bengals in enemy territory.

Who Dey ultimately reigned supreme last weekend, but I still have to give the win to KC for its BBQ prowess. I’ve written about Jack Stack before, but you simply cannot beat a dinosaur bone, a full crown beef rib that eats like its own personal bone-in brisket.

That said, we have some pretty serious smoked meat here in the Queen City, so you owe it to yourself to load up for the Super Bowl upcoming. Cincy joints do a fantastic job with the BBQ sandwich, and here are my favorites.

Eli’s was the pioneer here, and their pulled pork, turkey, and hot dogs still rock. Pontiac’s menu has been scaled back over the years, but they still have an excellent brisket sandwich and their smoked wings are superb. Here’s hoping they bring back the weekend dinosaur bone option someday.

Lucius Q’s Fuego has brisket, pulled pork, and an Avril-Bleh sausage with queso on top. Relative newcomer Pig Candy has a delightful loaded burger with pulled pork, and a bunless Mac n cheese bowl option that weighs approximately two pounds.

I tried the Rhinegeist Vision Pale Ale this weekend, which is in a new 12-pack with Truth, Mathlete, and Knowledge. These heavyweights should stand up to the meat paradise you have on deck.

When it came time to celebrate the victory, we broke out an all-time family favorite. The Balvenie Caribbean Cask, a 14 year old single malt Scotch that is beyond spectacular. C’mon, you can afford to drink this every 31 years!

Cheers!

cincybeerguydave@gmail.com

TUNE O' THE DAY. . . Dip-dip.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Brian Flores lawsuit: Storm ahead of Bengals-Rams Super Bowl