In a move directly out of a Howard Stern playbook, days after Bengals coach Marvin Lewis called Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel “a midget,” a Cleveland television station sent a little person to Lewis’ midweek press conference.
Cleveland’s FOX 8 assigned local media personality “Lil’ John” Rinaldi to Wednesday's presser to ask Lewis questions about the Browns and Manziel, who’ll make his first NFL start this Sunday against Lewis’ Bengals.
And it's no coincidence the diminutive reporter was in the room.
And it's no coincidence the diminutive reporter was in the room.
“Based on the height difference on a player like Manziel how has your defensive approach changed for Sunday’s game,” Rinaldi, who is 4-foot-3, asked Lewis.
Lewis answered Rinaldi’s question directly — along with a follow-up — albeit, a little uncomfortably.
The exchange happens in the video below (at 0:43):
The Bengals coach had already apologized for the comments made on a local radio show Monday night, when he was discussing how to defend the under-6-foot rookie and said “You’ve got to go defend the offense, you don’t defend the player,” before muttering “particularly a midget,” between questions from the show’s hosts.
He seems to be a reporter/employee for Fox 8 in Cleveland @WEWS @wcpo #Bengals pic.twitter.com/OqSGIpossZ
— Mark Slaughter (@MarkVSlaughter) December 10, 2014
As for Wednesday’s stunt by FOX 8, Lewis responded to it in humorless fashion and without using the M-word."I did not apologize directly to him, but the gentleman asked a couple questions in doing his job," Lewis told Cleveland.com of Rinaldi. "Hopefully I answered them correctly."
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