N.Y. attorney general questions NFL hiring practices after Apple incident
New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman sent a letter to the NFL on Tuesday about its hiring practices in the wake of the Eli Apple incident at last month’s scouting combine.
Apple told reporters he was asked by Atlanta Falcons coach Marquand Manuel whether or not he liked men while at the combine. NFL teams are barred from asking questions about sexual orientation during pre-draft interviews, which is both a violation of league policy and employment discrimination laws. The NFL sent teams a memo regarding questions about sexual orientation two years ago.
In his letter to the NFL’s head of human resources, Schneiderman said he was “deeply troubled” about the incident concerning Apple. Schneiderman wrote in his letter that him and league met in 2013 and 2014 to discuss eliminating sexual orientation discrimination within the league.
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“I request that the League provide a detailed summary of the steps it has taken to eliminate sexual orientation discrimination and to prevent such incidents as these from occurring since our first engagement in 2013,” Schneiderman said in his letter.
The Falcons and Manuel both apologized after the incident. Only one openly gay player has been drafted in the NFL—former Missouri star Michael Sam.
You can read Schneiderman’s full letter here.
