A member of the San Francisco 49ers, an american football team, has found himself in hot water after telling a reporter he would not accept a gay team-mate.
“I don’t do the gay guys, man,” Chris Culliver, a cornerback for the team, told the radio personality Artie Lange on Tuesday. “I don’t do that.”
He added: “No, we don’t got no gay people on the team. They gotta get up out of here if they do.”
On Wednesday evening, Culliver apologized in a statement released by the team: “The derogatory comments I made yesterday were a reflection of thoughts in my head, but they are not how I feel.” He added, “I apologize to those who I have hurt and offended, and I pledge to learn and grow from this experience.”
The 49ers released a video in support of the “It Gets Better” campaign last year showing their support for teens who are bullied due to their sexual orientation.
In the video Donte Whitner, one of Culliver’s team-mates, said to gay teenagers, “On behalf of the entire 49ers organization, we are on your side, and we promise it gets better.”
