During an interview earlier this year, former NFL assistant Eugene Chung claims that a team executive told him that he was “not the right minority” for the job (via the Boston Globe). On Monday, Fritz Pollard Alliance executive director Rod Graves issued a statement calling for an investigation into Chung’s experience.
“Alleged comments made to Eugene Chung by an NFL team during a recent interview should be investigated by the NFL,” Graves said. “If the comments regarding his status as a Korean American are true, it is further evidence that despite good faith changes to diversity-related policies, the NFL’s actual hiring practices are still riddled with discrimination.”
Chung has so far declined to identify the team or executive in question. It’s also unclear what type of job Chung was interviewing for. The ex-Patriots offensive lineman served as Andy Reid’s assistant offensive line coach with the Chiefs and Eagles. He stayed in Philly to work on Doug Pederson‘s staff while also managing tight ends and the running game. He left the Birds when his contract expired after the ’18 season and has been out of the league ever since.
Chung, 51, was just the second Korean-American to play in the NFL. Now, as a coaching candidate, he’s believes there are more barriers to be broken.
“I think that’s what can be done, is to put that information out there and let people know,” he said. “If people don’t know about the temperature of what’s going on out there, they’ll never know.”
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