Brian Flores' bombshell lawsuit against the NFL has taken the league by storm, and now more stories of similar racial mistreatment have begun to emerge. Former Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis shared an anecdote of his own, during which he experienced similar racist hiring practices in an interview with the Carolina Panthers. Lewis alleges that the Panthers brought him in for a head coaching interview, despite already having decided to hire a white head coach, John Fox.
Marvin Lewis says Panthers interviewed him for head coaching job after he knew the Panthers were going to hire John Fox pic.twitter.com/6gUdzNE7Fr
— Gifdsports (@gifdsports) February 2, 2022
Lewis alleges that he had seen on TV that Fox was set to be named Carolina's head coach back in 2002. Despite the reports surfacing, the Panthers requested an interview with Lewis, and ensured him that the reports about Fox's hiring were untrue. Of course, the Panthers ended up hiring Fox a few days later, despite Lewis having flown down to Charlotte for the interview. Lewis was eventually hired by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2003.
This is markedly similar to the claims Flores has made against the New York Giants. Flores alleges, and even has text message receipts courtesy of a Bill Belichick mishap, that the Giants requested to interview him despite their intentions to sign Brian Daboll as their new head coach. While the Giants have denied those allegations, Flores remains adamant that the job was never truly on the table for him.
The Panthers ended up hiring Fox back in 2002, and he'd spend nine years as the franchise's head coach. Lewis latched on with the Bengals in 2003, where he'd coach for 16 seasons until 2018.
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