Falcons asked Eli Apple about his sexual orientation at combine

Ohio State cornerback Eli Apple says an Atlanta Falcons coach asked about his sexual orientation at the scouting combine last week.

"I've been asked a lot of weird questions. I don't know if I could say on TV," Apple said during a guest appearance on CSN Philadelphia on Friday. "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."

The Falcons may face disciplinary action from the NFL for the line of questioning. The league sent out a memo in 2014 reminding teams of its anti-discrimination policies in preparation for Michael Sam's NFL debut.

The New York State attorney general told the NFL it's illegal to ask players about sexual orientation in 2013.

Falcons head coach Dan Quinn released a statement to CSN Philadelphia shortly after Apple's appearance:

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.