Within hours of accepting the prestigious Heisman Trophy, Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Kyler Murray issued an apology after homophobic tweets he made as a teenager surfaced.
The 21-year-old junior tweeted Sunday morning that his language “doesn’t reflect who I am or what I believe.”
“I apologize for the tweets that have come to light tonight from when I was 14 and 15,” he tweeted. “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.”
The tweets from 2011 and 2012 repeatedly used the word “queer” in a derogatory manner. They were deleted by Saturday night, shortly after he was awarded the country’s top college football award for an individual player. He won the recognition after throwing more than 4,000 yards and 40 touchdowns this season, ESPN reported.
In addition to being the second straight winner from the University of Oklahoma ― Baker Mayfield, the current quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, won the award last year ― he’s the seventh player to win the Heisman in Oklahoma’s history. This ties the Sooners with Notre Dame and Ohio State for the most winners by school.