Former TE questioned NFL Combine recruiters for intrusive doubts about their sexuality
The NFL Combine is a place where college football players get to showcase their talents with an opportunity to play in the league. While the physical skillsets are on display, franchises also get the opportunity to ask questions. For University of Colorado tight end and then-NFL prospect Nick Kasa, it was an experience he wanted to forget.
When asked after the 2013 combine, Kasa commented that some NFL teams asked questions in relation to players' sexuality.
Kasa said:
“[Teams] ask you like, ‘Do you have a girlfriend? Are you married?' Those kinds of things, and you know it was just kind of weird. But they would ask you with a straight face, and it’s a pretty weird experience altogether.”
The former Buffaloes tight end's comments came after Mike Florio's comments on The Dan Patrick Show. Florio noted that questions about sexuality came from NFL teams wanting to know if former Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o was gay. Te'o evaded such questions in January 2013.
Florio said:
"Here's the elephant in the room for the teams and it shouldn't matter, but we have to step aside from the rest of reality and walk into the unique industry that is the NFL. Teams want to know whether Manti Te'o is gay. They just want to know. They want to know because in an NFL locker room, it's a different world. It shouldn't be that way."
Kasa was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL draft, playing just one season for the team. The tight end was released by the team in May 2015 after failing a physical. However, he was signed by the Denver Broncos for their practice squad in January 2016. Kasa never played a down for the team in the regular season.
The league eventually looked into the matter on the questions of players' sexuality at the 2013 NFL Combine.
How did the NFL rule in their investigation about the questions of sexuality at the 2013 NFL Combine?
The league found no "specific violations" in questions teams asked college players at the 2013 NFL combine. NFL spokesman Greg Aiello released a statement noting there were no violations and warned all teams about their questioning.
Aiello said:
"Our review has not established any specific violations, but we have made it clear to our clubs what is acceptable when interviewing potential players and other job candidates."
San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver made anti-gay comments prior to Super Bowl XLVII in 2013. In an interview, the then-49ers cornerback commented that he wouldn't be open to a gay teammate.
Culliver said:
"I don't do the gay guys man. 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."
Culliver later apologized for his comments. Now, teams aren't permitted to ask questions about their sexuality at the NFL combine.
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