Kyler Murray – Photo: University of Oklahoma Football, via Facebook.
Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray, the starting quarterback for the University of Oklahoma, has apologized for homophobic tweets he made as a teenager, reports CBS.
Murray, a junior, won the prestigious award, given annually to college football’s most valuable player, over Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins on Saturday night.
But on the night he was being honored, USA Today reported that when he was 15 the Sooners quarterback had tweeted at some friends using homophobic slurs to insult them. At the time, Murray made at least four tweets using the offensive language.
Shortly after the news broke, 21-year-old Murray deleted the tweets and apologized for their content.
“I apologize for the tweets that have come to light tonight from when I was 14 and 15,” he tweeted on Sunday. “I used a poor choice of word that doesn’t reflect who I am or what I believe. I did not intend to single out any individual or group.”
I apologize for the tweets that have come to light tonight from when I was 14 and 15. I used a poor choice of word that doesn’t reflect who I am or what I believe. I did not intend to single out any individual or group.
Murray also addressed the tweet in an appearance on CBS’ The NFL Today.
“You know, I was young, I own every part of it. I used a poor choice of words. At the same time, me being at this stage, having this platform, I learned from it,” he said. “It’s critical for me, crucial to me that I move on from it, but at the same time, own up to what I said and move on and learn from it.”
Murray, who excels at baseball as well as football, has signed a $4.66 million contract with the Oakland Athletics after being selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft in June. While some sports fans have speculated that he might be enticed to play in the National Football League if he’s drafted high, his agent, Scott Boras, put the kibosh on those rumors, telling NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport that Murray would stick with baseball.
Murray is also the latest athlete to find themselves in the middle of a controversy based on their past statements on Twitter. Earlier this year, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen saw racist tweets from his teenage years resurface ahead of the NFL draft, when some sports pundits had predicted he would be the number-one overall pick.
Villanova Final Four Most Outstanding Player Donte DiVincenzo came under fire for a tweet quoting racist rap lyrics after helping his team win a national title.
A Florida man has been acquitted of murder charges in the shooting of a gay man at a Tampa dog park a year ago.
The six-person jury deliberated for two-and-a-half hours before finding Gerald Radford not guilty of second-degree murder in relation to the death of 52-year-old John Walter Lay at the city's West Dog Park on February 2, 2024.
The jury also failed to find Radford guilty of a lesser charge of manslaughter with a weapon.
Prosecutors with the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office had sought to attach a hate crime enhancement to the charges. Had he been convicted, Radford could have been sentenced to life in prison.
Republicans in nine states are calling for the overturn of marriage equality.
In Idaho, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota, lawmakers have introduced resolutions demanding the U.S. Supreme Court reverse its landmark 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, in which the court struck down all existing state-level same-sex marriage bans.
Last month, the Idaho House of Representatives voted 46-24 to approve one such resolution, asking the nation's highest court to "restore the natural definition of marriage, a union of one man and one woman."
While the resolution is non-binding and doesn't require the Supreme Court to take action, Republican lawmakers see it as a "messaging" bill that expresses their extreme displeasure with same-sex marriage.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray, the starting quarterback for the University of Oklahoma, has apologized for homophobic tweets he made as a teenager, reports CBS.
Murray, a junior, won the prestigious award, given annually to college football’s most valuable player, over Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa and Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins on Saturday night.
But on the night he was being honored, USA Today reported that when he was 15 the Sooners quarterback had tweeted at some friends using homophobic slurs to insult them. At the time, Murray made at least four tweets using the offensive language.
Shortly after the news broke, 21-year-old Murray deleted the tweets and apologized for their content.
“I apologize for the tweets that have come to light tonight from when I was 14 and 15,” he tweeted on Sunday. “I used a poor choice of word that doesn’t reflect who I am or what I believe. I did not intend to single out any individual or group.”
Murray also addressed the tweet in an appearance on CBS’ The NFL Today.
“You know, I was young, I own every part of it. I used a poor choice of words. At the same time, me being at this stage, having this platform, I learned from it,” he said. “It’s critical for me, crucial to me that I move on from it, but at the same time, own up to what I said and move on and learn from it.”
Murray, who excels at baseball as well as football, has signed a $4.66 million contract with the Oakland Athletics after being selected in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft in June. While some sports fans have speculated that he might be enticed to play in the National Football League if he’s drafted high, his agent, Scott Boras, put the kibosh on those rumors, telling NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport that Murray would stick with baseball.
Murray is also the latest athlete to find themselves in the middle of a controversy based on their past statements on Twitter. Earlier this year, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen saw racist tweets from his teenage years resurface ahead of the NFL draft, when some sports pundits had predicted he would be the number-one overall pick.
Villanova Final Four Most Outstanding Player Donte DiVincenzo came under fire for a tweet quoting racist rap lyrics after helping his team win a national title.
And in July, the Milwaukee Brewers’ Josh Hader was forced to apologize and undergo sensitivity training after homophobic and misogynistic tweets were dredged up while he was playing in the MLB All-Star Game.
READ NEXT