Former Ohio State cornerback Eli Apple
said Friday that an Atlanta Falcons coach asked him whether he's gay
during a meeting at the NFL combine.
“The Falcons coach, one of the
coaches, was like, 'So do you like men?'” Apple, 20, said during an
interview with Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia. “It was like the
first thing he asked me. It was weird. I was just like, 'No.' 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.”
“I guess he was joking,” Apple
added, “but they just ask most of these questions to see how you're
going to react.”
In a statement, Falcons coach Dan Quinn
apologized.
“I am really disappointed in the
question that was asked by one of our coaches,” Quinn said. “I
have spoken to the coach that interviewed Eli Apple and explained to
him how inappropriate and unprofessional this was. 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.”
An NFL spokesman said that the league
was looking into the incident.