Falcons apologize for asking prospect if he liked men during combine interview

The Atlanta Falcons apologized on Friday after one of their coaches asked an NFL draft prospect if he liked men during an NFL combine interview.

Ohio State cornerback Eli Apple, regarded as a potential mid-to-late first rounder, told Comcast SportsNet’s Breakfast on Broad on Friday that this was the starting topic during an interview with a Falcons coach.

“The Falcons coach, one of the coaches, was like, ‘So do you like men?’ It was like the first thing he asked me,” Apple said. “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.”

Sure enough, not long after Apple’s revelation, Falcons coach Dan Quinn issued an apology.

“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.”

This goes rather beyond wildly inappropriate. Prospects get asked a lot of questions at the combine, many of them weird, but generally they’re the stupid and harmless sort of weird. This is just uncomfortable and uncalled for, and the coach responsible for it deserves more than just a firm talking to and a prepared apology.