NEW ORLEANS, LA (WIS) -
A day after his anti-gay comments were aired by a syndicated radio host, San Francisco 49ers cornerback and former Gamecock football player Chris Culliver faced questions about his comments on Thursday.
Culliver apologized again for the comments that were aired on The Artie Lange Show Wednesday morning and spread like fire on the Internet later in the day.
"That's not what I feel in my heart," said Culliver. "I treat everyone equal and any type of way. That's not how I feel."
The cornerback was being interviewed by Lange when he was asked about gays in the NFL.
"I don't do the gay guys, man," said Culliver. "I don't do that. No, we don't got no gay people on the team. They gotta get up out of here if they do."
Lange pressed Culliver further, and Culliver said gay players should come out 10 years after retirement.
Culliver's coach, Jim Harbaugh, and fellow players were also asked about the comments.
"That is not something that reflects the way the organization feels and the way most of the players feel," said Harbaugh.
"I think in our game of football, it's something a lot of people say they couldn't tolerate, but it's here," said wide receiver Randy Moss. "I never want to separate anybody from race or anything like that, but there are gays in sports, and I think we need to just let it go and just move on."
Back in South Carolina, gay rights group SC Equality released a statement asking Culliver to apologize further for the comments.
"The comments that Chris Culliver made about gay players in the NFL are discouraging because they perpetuate a culture homophobia in sports environments. As a University of South Carolina student, Chris Culliver participated in the Carolinian Creed that all students agree to abide by which states "…I will discourage bigotry, while striving to learn from differences in people, ideas and opinions…" Here in South Carolina, where football is one of our favorite sports, we expect better of players and believe that Chris Culliver should apologize to LGBT fans and players around the country," said the statement.
Culliver's 49ers face the Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII on Sunday.
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Chris Culliver
