USAT: Panthers Wire audio clip

USAT: Panthers Wire

Feb 3, 2022

On Tuesday, former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores pushed the first big domino. On Wednesday, they began to fall. - Following the filing of Flores’ class action lawsuit, alleging the NFL and three of its teams of racial discrimination, former Cincinnati Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis joined ESPN’s First Take to share his thoughts and experiences on the matter. And one of those experiences involved the Carolina Panthers back in 2002. - “I did interview with the Carolina Panthers before John Fox got the job,” said Lewis, who was the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens at the time. “And I can recall that we had lost to the Steelers in the second round of the playoffs and I remember sitting at home on Monday and, I think it was Chris Mortensen or someone else—they reported that Foxy would be named the head coach of the Panthers on Friday. - “And when I went to work Tuesday, Brian [Billick] came in, said I just got off the phone with Ozzie [Newsome] and the Panthers want you to come down and 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 talks to Ozzie, he talks to their people, and I end up going down to Charlotte and meeting with the Richardson family and they said that wasn’t true and so forth. And they named John the head coach on Friday.” - - In an interview on ESPN’s First Take, former Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis says he experienced a situation similar to Brian Flores back in 2002, during the interview process with the Carolina Panthers. pic.twitter.com/LdKlSfx4yf - — DaShawn Brown (@DaShawnWSOC9) February 2, 2022 - - - Lewis’ account corroborates Flores’ claims of racial bias within the league’s hiring process. Although it cannot be said with absolute certainty, as Lewis himself couldn’t confirm, his interview seemed to be a sham—offered merely to save a bit of face. - While the Rooney Rule wouldn’t be established until a year later, Carolina’s request to speak with Lewis reeks of insincerity considering their decision was already reportedly made. That reported decision, of course, conveniently came to fruition soon after. - - RelatedFormer Panthers OC Joe Brady expected to be hired as new Bills QB coach - - RelatedFormer Panthers QB coach Ken Dorsey named new Bills OC - - List - - Panthers 2022 NFL mock draft 1.0: End of January edition - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Email - - - - - Sign up - - - - - - - - Like this article? - Sign up for the Panthers Wire email newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning - - - - An error has occured - - - Please re-enter your email address. - - - - - - Thanks for signing up! - - - You'll now receive the top Panthers Wire stories each day directly in your inbox.

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