Former ESPN editor says he meant no harm with Lin headline that got him fired

Anthony Federico, the ESPN editor who was fired for using the “Chink in the Armor” headline with a story about Knicks guard Jeremy Lin, said he had no ill-intent when writing it and that he made a mistake by including a derogatory term for Asian people in the headline.

"This had nothing to do with me being cute or punny," Anthony Federico told the New York Daily News.

"I'm so sorry that I offended people. I'm so sorry if I offended Jeremy."

The headline appeared on ESPN's mobile website at 2:30 a.m. ET on Saturday and was removed by 3:05 a.m., the network said in a statement.

Frederico, who started with ESPN as an intern in 2006, added: "I had a career that I was proud of. I'm devastated that I caused a firestorm."

ESPN also suspended ESPNews anchor Max Bretos for using the same “chink in the armor” expression when interviewing Knicks TV analyst Walt Frazier about Lin. Bretos apologized for using what may have been construed as a racial slur and noted that his wife is Asian.

ESPN anchor Michael Kim, who is Asian, defended Bretos, his colleague. "I truly believe it was an unfortunate use of words but I KNOW there was no malice there," Kim tweeted.