Team apologizes for asking NFL Draft prospect if he 'likes men'
Year after year, the NFL Draft spawns weird analyses of future football pros -- transforming the entire process into something that resembles a cross between a livestock market and a psychology exam.
This, however, takes the weirdness cake: The Atlanta Falcons publicly apologized Friday for asking one highly touted prospect during a pre-draft interview if he "likes men."
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Cornerback Eli Apple is expected to be a first-round pick in April after a standout career at Ohio State. During a recent appearance on Comcast SportsNet, Apple was asked about some of the more bizarre job interview questions he's been faced with.
"I've been asked a lot of weird questions. I don't know if I could say on TV," Apple initially replied.
Then he told the story and -- well, this isn't how job interviews normally start!
"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."
Most humans in 2016 have evolved beyond implying that someone's sexual orientation is relevant to their job performance. No surprise: The Falcons released an apologetic statement shortly after Apple told his story.
“I am really disappointed in the question that was asked by one of our coaches," read a statement attributed to head coach Dan Quinn and sent to Comcast SportsNet. "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.”
Meanwhile, if you think that was the most tasteless question asked of NFL prospects this year, think again.
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The NFL is a strange, strange world.
Sam Laird is Mashable's Senior Sports Reporter. He covers the wide, weird world of sports from all angles -- as well as occasional other topics -- from Mashable's San Francisco bureau. Before joining Mashable in November 2011, his freelance work appeared in publications including the New York Times, New York Times Magazine, Slam, and East Bay Express. Sam is a graduate of UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz, and basketball and burritos take up most of his spare time. Follow him on Twitter @samcmlaird.
