Ohio State cornerback Eli Apple says he was taken
aback when a coach at last month's NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis asked him upfront
about his sexuality.
In an interview
with Comcast SportsNet's "Breakfast on Broad," Apple
said the question came up while he was talking to a coach for the Atlanta
Falcons.
"I've been
asked a lot of weird questions. I don't know if I could say on TV," he
said at first. Then, he continued: "The Falcons coach, one of the coaches,
was like, 'So do you like men?' It was like the first thing he asked me. It was
weird."
Although Apple
told the coach no, he said the coach continued to press him on the
issue.
"He was
like, 'If you're going to come to Atlanta, sometimes that's how it is around
here, you're going to have to get used to it,'" he said. Apple's full
interview on Comcast SportsNet is available here.
After the chat
aired early Friday, Atlanta Falcons Head Coach Dan Quinn released a statement distancing his team from the
remarks, noting that he was "really disappointed" in the
question.
"I have
spoken to the coach that interviewed Eli Apple and explained to him how
inappropriate and unprofessional this was," he said in the statement, SB Nation reports. "I have reiterated this to the
entire coaching staff and I want to apologize to Eli for this even coming
up.
"This is
not what the Atlanta Falcons are about and it is not how we are going to
conduct ourselves."
The combine is
known as a place where incoming rookies are expected to answer odd questions, but the one directed at Apple could
violate the league's anti-discrimination policy.
“This is
disappointing and clearly inappropriate as the Falcons have acknowledged,” said
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy in an email. “We will look into it."
The head of the
players union denounced the question too. DeMaurice Smith, the executive
director of the NFL Players Association, called it a "another dehumanizing
moment" in the history of the combine.
Despite the history of homophobia within the NFL, recently a complete acceptance of sexual diversity was apparent. This questioning has set aside any progress on this and other issues. It is refreshing to see both the head coach and the NFL, as well as a player's spokesperson denounce and object to these types of inferences. Thank you for posting this here. Take care and stay bare!
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