Jim Harbaugh 'had a conversation' with Chris Culliver
NEW ORLEANS -- For some reason, 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver picked Wednesday before the Super Bowl to announce that he wouldn't really be down with having an openly gay teammate. The 49ers said Wednesday they "reject" his comments.
And Jim Harbaugh said Thursday morning -- in the most angry parent kind of way he possibly could've -- that he spoke with Culliver about the issue.
"We had a conversation," Harbaugh said at his press conference.
Harbaugh also said that he doesn't think Culliver necessarily believes what he said to reporters.
"I do believe there wasn't malice in his heart," Harbaugh said. "He's not an ugly person."
The coach continued, saying he thinks that perhaps Culliver "heard" the opinion he expressed on Wednesday, and that it's not something the defensive back actually believes.
Culliver's comments make believing Harbaugh -- difficult.
"I don't do that," Culliver told Artie Lang. "No, we don't got no gay people on the team, they gotta get up out of here if they do. "Can't be with that sweet stuff. Nah ... can't be ... in the locker room man. Nah."
But Harbaugh's not the only one who thinks that Culliver doesn't really feel that way. San Francisco linebacker Patrick Willis doesn't think Culliver's a hateful guy either.
"He said what he said yesterday," Willis said Thursday. "I know that's not his heart. Cully's a great kid and a great guy. I love having him on our team. He's just young and it's unfortunate it came off the way it did."
It's entirely bizarre that Culliver would agree to chat with Artie Lang about having a homosexual teammate -- knowing he was going to say what he said -- less than a week before the Super Bowl. Maybe he was trying to be funny? (Why would he think that would be funny?)
The reality is there's no defending his comments and any talk about whatever reasons Culliver said what he said are just that: talk.
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