Earlier today, we pointed out that the succession plan crafted by Dolphins owner Stephen Ross consists of selling controlling interest in the team to Bruce Beal. If, however, the league’s investigation of the allegations made by former Dolphins coach Brian Flores bring Ross down, they could bring Beal down, too. In theory.
Beal (pictured with Flores) isn’t just someone to whom Ross sold a slice of the team and then granted a right of first refusal as to the interest held by Ross. Beal is a long-time partner with Ross, in both his real-estate company and the Dolphins. If the Flores allegations regarding cash-for-clunking are true, it’s entirely possible that Beal was aware of the broader plan by Ross to fail in 2019 in order to secure the highest possible draft pick in 2020.
As to the allegation that Ross pressured Flores “to recruit a prominent quarterback in violation of League tampering rules” in 2019 and 2020, the quarterback in question reportedly is Tom Brady. Brady and Bruce Beal are good friends. Beal is third from the left in this photo of Brady’s entourage at the 2019 Kentucky Derby, for example. Given that Flores claims Ross tried to arrange an accidental lunch between Flores and the unnamed prominent quarterback on a yacht in early 2020, it’s not a stretch to wonder whether Ross used Beal to schedule Brady’s arrival for the chance-by-design meeting.
Text messages or other electronic communications exchanged by and between Ross and Beal and Beal and Brady could become very relevant to the NFL’s investigation. (Yes, Tom Brady’s cell phone could become an issue for the league all over again.) Between Ross talking to Beal and Beal talking to Brady, there could be enough not only to prove that Flores’s allegations are accurate as to Ross but also to show that Beal is arguably as culpable as the team’s majority owner.
Whether it’s the tanking allegation or the tampering plan or both, Beal could end up soaking in the same vat of hot water as Ross. Maybe that’s why Beal has lawyered up in the face of the filing of the Flores lawsuit, hiring his own counsel to represent the interests of a would-be controlling owner whose days could possibly be as numbered as his partner’s.
None of this has been proven. But the dots are sitting in plain sight. It makes sense for any credible investigation to explore whether they can be connected.
