Former ESPN editor Anthony Federico made news by writing a headline last month. Now, he's back in the headlines — but for much more welcomed reasons.
Federico, who was fired after writing a headline about Jeremy Lin that contained a racially insensitive word, met with the Knicks guard for lunch on Tuesday, according to Newsday.
The two reportedly discussed their shared Christian faith and Lin's knee injury.
"It went incredible," Federico said. "I'm just so excited we had a chance to meet. We talked for an hour. I'm just so thankful."
The former ESPN editor was fired from his job last month after writing a controversial headline with the words "Chink in the armor." The headline stood on ESPN's mobile site for about a half hour in the early morning hours on Feb. 19 before being taken down.
The headline, which probably wouldn't turn heads typically, created quite the uproar given Lin's Asian-American heritage. Federico subsequently apologized for the headline, saying that it was an "honest mistake" and that he wasn't trying to be "cute of punny."
Lin accepted Federico's apology, but who knew the two would soon break bread?
Federico reportedly said that a member of Lin's family reached out to him more than a month ago, and that the two met at a Manhattan restaurant after a few reschedulings due to Lin's busy schedule.
"The fact that he reached out to me, the fact that he took the time to meet with me in his insanely busy schedule … He's just a wonderful, humble person," Federico told Newsday. "He didn't have to do that, especially after everything had kind of died down for the most part."
A Knicks spokesman said on Wednesday that Lin did not wish to publicly discuss the meeting.
