NFL faces PR flare-up over player’s homophobic remarks
With only a few days to go until its big day, the NFL is staring down a PR crisis, thanks to San Francisco 49er Chris Culliver’s unfortunate comments on a radio show.
No such luck.
On Tuesday, Chris Culliver, a 24-year-old cornerback for the San Francisco 49ers, was talking to radio personality Artie Lange, who asked him whether there were any gay players on the team. Here’s how Culliver reacted:
“No, we don’t got no gay people on the team. They gotta get up out of here if they do. Can’t be with that sweet stuff.”
Lange asked whether gay people can “play well.” Culliver said no. The 49er also mentioned that homosexuals shouldn’t be in the locker room and that they should wait 10 years to come out publicly as gay.
The 49ers are playing the Baltimore Ravens in Sunday’s Super Bowl.
Overnight, Culliver’s remarks became the topic du jour among sports writers, prompting the 49ers to issue this statement:
“The San Francisco 49ers reject the comments that were made yesterday, and have addressed the matter with Chris. There is no place for discrimination within our organization at any level. We have and always will proudly support the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community.”
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