VIDEO: Eli Apple recalls bizarre question he was asked by NFL team
NFL pre-draft questions are odd. By now, you know this.
From the “If you could kill somebody and get away with it, would you?”
Or, “Do you think your mom is attractive.”
Some of them even dig deeper into sexual orientation, even though the NFL has advised teams not to ask those questions.
Well, the Atlanta Falcons did so anyway.
Apparently in their interview with Ohio State quarterback Eli Apple, the Falcons didn’t waste any time getting weird.
“I’ve been asked a lot of weird questions. I don’t know if I can say them on TV,” Apple said. “One of the Falcons coaches was like ‘Do you like men?’ And I think it was like the first thing he asked me. It was weird. I was just like ‘No.’ And he was like ‘If you’re going to come down to Atlanta, you’ve just got to know that sometimes that’s how it is out here or whatever and you’ve got to get used to it.’
“I guess he was joking but they just ask these questions to see how you’re gonna react or if you’re paying attention, I guess. That was like the first thing off the bat…that was very interesting.”
Here’s him recalling the story on Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia:
Falcons coach Dan Quinn has since responded by releasing an official apology to Apple for the bizarre question:
“I am really disappointed in the question that was asked by one of our coaches. 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.”
If the Falcons do have a shot to take Apple at No. 17, who knows if this incident will factor into that decision.