RAPSHEET | Dolphins owner Stephen Ross could lose team if tanking allegations are true

<div> <figure> <img alt="Miami Dolphins Introduce Mike McDaniel" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/6TKxIX7PBY3nG3-UKszMF21c1Vs=/0x0:3000x2000/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/70506404/1370205380.0.jpg"> <figcaption>Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images</figcaption> </figure> <p id="HnZ97f">It may have been 1:30 AM on the east coast, but that didn’t stop <a href="https://www.nfl.com/news/dolphins-stephen-ross-could-lose-team-by-owner-vote-pending-nfl-investigation">NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport from dropping a bombshell regarding the NFL’s investigation into Miami Dolphins’ owner Stephen Ross and his most recent tanking allegations</a>. </p> <p id="SYYz5V"></p> <div id="EwX9jJ"> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr">If tanking allegations are proven true, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Dolphins?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Dolphins</a> owner Stephen Ross would face severe discipline, up to and including Ross losing the team by a vote of fellow owners, sources say.<br><br>My story: <a href="https://t.co/4wM3y9AsWT">https://t.co/4wM3y9AsWT</a></p>— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1493110417656143874?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 14, 2022</a> </blockquote> </div> <p id="gQSijH"></p> <p id="FzXcua">Ross is accused of bribing former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores before the start of the 2019 season. Flores says Ross offered to pay him an additional $100,000 for every game the team lost. (Flores says he did NOT take the money)</p> <p id="Mq9jM5"></p> <p id="svuwN5">According to an unnamed source in Rapoport’s article: “<em>the probe has only just begun, and investigators plan to speak with all relevant parties — including Flores — as soon as possible. It’s clear the league takes the possibility of tanking extremely seriously — seeing it as a threat to the integrity of the game — with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell saying last Wednesday during his pre-</em><a href="https://www.nfl.com/games/rams-at-bengals-2021-post-4"><em>Super Bowl LVI</em></a><em> news conference that “</em><a href="https://www.nfl.com/news/commissioner-roger-goodell-nfl-to-re-examine-everything-related-to-diversity-hir"><em>if there were violations, they won’t be tolerated</em></a><em>.</em>”</p> <p id="TdvCKC"></p> <p id="5X5AGX">The most noteworthy part of Rapoport’s late-night Super Bowl news dump was that Ross could be voted out by the other 31 NFL owners if found guilty.</p> <p id="izNmIE"></p> <blockquote><p id="J62Nam">Case in point: If the league investigation finds Ross offered Flores $100,000 for each loss during the 2019 NFL season, as Flores alleges, the discipline could be severe, up to and including Ross losing the team by a vote of fellow owners, per sources. Goodell <a href="https://twitter.com/AndrewSiciliano/status/1491509380025503745">addressed the concept</a> of an owner being voted out last Wednesday, noting that “I do believe that clubs do have the authority to remove an owner from the league.<strong>“A league source confirmed that owners could, in fact, vote a fellow owner out under the most dire circumstances based on league rules, which would require a three-fourths vote.”</strong></p></blockquote> <p id="ccGYWx"></p> <div id="EnNazO"></div> <p id="h8oFNe"></p> <p id="2DNkAk">Maybe, I’m ignorant; But I’d much rather see Stephen Ross sell the Dolphins than the team punished and stripped of multiple draft picks. I’m just not confident a coach named Lance Bennett is enough evidence—especially considering his <em>rumored </em>close relationship with Coach Flores. </p> <p id="98fD5g"></p> <p id="9g8JGZ"><em>Do you think Stephen Ross will be forced to sell the Dolphins? What were your thoughts on Super Bowl LVI? Let us know in the comments section below!</em></p> </div>