During his introductory press conference with the Cincinnati Bengals this week, offensive lineman Orlando Brown Jr. shared a humorous story about his pre-draft interview with the team. But the seemingly harmless story inadvertently caused a little drama between former Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis and a member of the media.
On Friday, Brown told reporters that during his initial interview with the Bengals ahead of the 2018 NFL Draft, Lewis asked him a simple geography question that he failed miserably. Bengals reporter Ben Baby of ESPN was attending the press conference and shared the story in a tweet.
“During his pre-draft interview, former Bengals coach Marvin Lewis asked Orlando Brown what the capital of Spain was. Brown answered Portugal,” Baby said in a tweet on Sunday. “Brown said he messed that question ‘all the way up’ but still crushed the interview with the Bengals.”
Brown said he messed that question "all the way up" but still crushed the interview with the Bengals.
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) March 17, 2023
It seemed like a pretty harmless anecdote to share. But apparently, the former Bengals coach didn’t feel that way.
Several hours later, Lewis replied to the tweet claiming that the story was false and telling the reporter that he needs to “fact check yourself.”
“Ben Baby that’s BS!! You need to fact check yourself,” Lewis said in a tweet.
Ha! I’m just reporting the news as it was told in the presser.
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) March 18, 2023
Baby didn’t seem too bothered by the callout from Lewis, simply informing him that he was simply reporting what Brown said during the press conference.
“Ha! I’m just reporting the news as it was told in the presser,” Baby said.
It was an odd interaction all around and it’s not really clear why Lewis was so upset with the reporter when Brown was the one who shared the story and the anecdote itself was pretty harmless anyway, but Baby seemed to handle it well.
