Atlanta Falcons apologize for asking a prospective draft pick, ‘So, do you like men?’

Surely, at the NFL Combine, there is something to be gained from the teams interviewing potential draftees. Perhaps the Seahawks learn that the wide receiver from Kansas is a quick thinker with a good attitude, and would fit well within their organizational ethos. Who knows! These interviews definitely shouldn’t be used to ask whether a player likes men, though. Apparently, the Atlanta Falcons didn’t quite grasp that.

As CSN Philly reports, Ohio State cornerback Eli Apple’s Falcons’ interview proceeded just so, with a Falcons coach asking him point-blank if he liked men. His full quote:

“The Falcons coach, one of the coaches, was like, ‘So do you like men?’ 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.”

Of course, asking someone about their sexual orientation in a job interview isn’t just weird and needlessly personal—it’s against the law. The NFL ran into this issue back in 2013, when a team reportedly asked tight end Nick Kasa about his sexual orientation in a combine interview. One year later, when linebacker Michael Sam announced that he was gay prior to the combine, the NFL sent out a memo to all teams reminding them that it’s illegal to discriminate based on a number of factors, including sexual orientation.

Sam, who was eventually drafted by the St. Louis Rams, would’ve become the first openly gay player in NFL history; he was cut in training camp, meaning there still hasn’t been an openly gay person on an active NFL roster. (There have been a number of players who’ve come out after retiring.)

Falcons head coach Dan Quinn released a statement after the reports, apologizing to Apple and stating “this is not what the Atlanta Falcons are all about.”