Former NFL lineman Dexter Manley has done some good things in his life. His appearance on D.C. radio station WTOP yesterday was not one of them. At the end of a light-hearted segment discussing the NFL, hosts asked Manley — who played for Washington for years — a question about Troy Aikman, former quarterback of the rival Dallas Cowboys. "I think Troy Aikman was a queer," Manley responded. Here's the conversation, per OutSports:
Host: Was it a big jinx that Troy Aikman was doing the game, the former Cowboy?
Manley: I think Troy Aikman is a queer.
Host: Uh-oh. We don't want to go there.
Manley: Okay, I'm sorry about that.
Host: Now, you want to apologize to him?
Manley: No.
Host: You don't?
Manley: I'll just say, I take that back. Since he's a Cowboy fan.
Host: Right. Well we don't want certainly anyone to think that anybody endorses anything like that, Dexter, because that is really not an area that we want to go in.
Manley: Okay, I apologize.
WTOP almost immediately issued a further apology and announced that Manley would not be invited back on their show. Manley himself has also since apologized. Wrote Manley: " I want to apologize to Troy, but I mostly want to apologize to anyone else I offended. Like a lot of people in these times, I have to realize that what I thought was funny years ago doesn't work now."