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Whereas interviewing for an NFL teaching job this offseason, former offensive lineman and assistant coach Eugene Chung revealed that he was informed he was “not the suitable minority” throughout his bid to earn the job. Chung, who’s of Korean descent, defined his encounter with the interviewer throughout a webinar hosted by The Boston Globe on Thursday that was designed for Asian Individuals to debate their experiences within the sports activities world.
“It was mentioned to me, ‘Properly, you are actually not a minority,'” Chung recalled, based on The Globe. “I used to be like, ‘Wait a minute. The final time I checked, after I seemed within the mirror and brushed my tooth, I used to be a minority.'”
When Chung pressed the interviewer to elucidate additional, he says he was informed that he was “not the suitable minority that we’re on the lookout for.”
“I requested about it, and as quickly because the backtracking began, I used to be like, ‘Oh no, no, no, no, no, you mentioned it. Now that it is on the market, let’s speak about it,'” he continued. “It was completely mind-blowing to me that, in 2021, one thing like that’s really a story.”
The precise staff using the interviewer who requested this query was not recognized by Chung. In the meantime, he additionally went on to say that this is not a blanket indictment on the NFL as an entire.
“I am not sitting right here bashing the league in any respect, as a result of there are nice mentors and there are nice coaches that embrace the distinction,” he mentioned. “It is simply when the Asians do not match the narrative, that is the place my abdomen churns a bit bit.”
The 51-year-old got here into the NFL as a participant again in 1992 when he was a first-round draft selection of the New England Patriots. On the time, he was simply the third particular person of Asian descent to ever play skilled soccer. He was additionally the primary Korean American to be drafted within the first spherical.
A decade after his enjoying profession got here to an in depth in 2000, Chung labored his manner into the teaching circuit, getting his first style of that have as an assistant offensive line coach with the Philadelphia Eagles. He held that put up for 3 seasons earlier than taking the identical function with the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs in 2013. Chung would later return to Philly and was on workers serving because the assistant offensive line, tight finish, and run sport coach when the membership gained Tremendous Bowl LII.
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