Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn has expressed disapproval of an assistant coach who inquired whether former Ohio State defensive back Eli Apple was gay at last week’s NFL scouting combine.
“I am really disappointed in the question that was asked by one of our coaches,” Quinn said in a statement released Friday.
“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.”
Apple had described the interview with Atlanta assistant, whom he declined to name, in a Friday interview with Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia.
“The Falcons coach, one of the coaches, was like, ‘So do you like men?’” Apple said. “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, but they just ask most of these questions to see how you’re going to react.”
A representative for the league office said later Friday that the league would investigate the incident.
“This is disappointing and clearly inappropriate as the Falcons acknowledged,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement. “We will look into it.”
