Marvin Lewis joins growing list of coaches denouncing NFL for its racial injustices
Former Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis has come forward with his own allegations concerning the NFL's prejudicial treatment of minorities. He details his own experience of inequality while competing for the Carolina Panthers head coaching job.
Lewis subject to same experience as Flores
Speaking on ESPN's First Take, Lewis detailed how the interaction played out before he ultimately lost out to John Fox.
"Well, I actually I did an interview with the Carolina Panthers before John Fox got the job and, and I can recall that we had lost to the Steelers in the second round of the playoffs," Lewis said.
Marvin Lewis says Panthers interviewed him for head coaching job after he knew the Panthers were going to hire John Fox https://t.co/6gUdzNE7Fr
This comes in the wake of former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores filing a lawsuit against the NFL for its racial malpractices. Three other teams in Denver, New York (Giants) and Miami are also alleged to have demonstrated racism and a lack of integrity during hiring practices.
The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan on Tuesday and has taken the NFL community by storm. In the 58-page lawsuit, Flores alleges that Stephen Ross, the Dolphins owner, offered him $100,000 to lose games on purpose in 2019 to strengthen the team's draft hand.
"And I remember sitting home on Monday, and I think it was Chris Mortensen or someone else reported that Fox would be named the head coach of the Panthers on Friday. And when I went to work Tuesday, Brian came in and said, 'Hey, I just got off the phone with Ozzie and the Panthers want you to come down interview for the job.' I said, 'coach, I just heard last night on TV that they're gonna name Foxy the coach on Friday.' So he goes back he talked to Ozzie, he talked to people and and I ended up going down to Charlotte and so forth and meeting with the Richardson family.
Lewis details that the Panthers denied reports that Fox had already been hired as their head coach. But on Friday it was annnounced that Carolina had hired Fox as their new head coach.
"And you know, they said that wasn't true and so forth. And they named John the head coach on Friday. So, you know, I don't know, you know, again, that's the situation I was in but you have to go you have to go and prove that you're worthy to become the head coach. And, you know, and it's, you know, you're appreciative of the opportunity, but what was supposedly going to happen ended up happening in that case, for sure," Lewis finished.
Flores, along with Lewis and other alleged victims, want change and must continue to fight for proper justice. Former players have come out in support of Flores and what he is aiming to do.
Brian Flores shared why he chose to sue the NFL and three teams, alleging racism in hiring practices.
(via @GetUpESPN) https://t.co/E8AaywV4BC
Many details have yet to come to light, but many support Flores in his pursuit of justice against the NFL. The story has taken the NFL world's attention away from the upcoming Super Bowl, but some things are more important than football. The entire NFL community is rallying behind Brian Flores over this issue.