There's no such thing as an innocent question. The Falcons asking about Eli Apple's sexual preference leaves a bad taste in our mouths because of the insinuation: That, in a job interview setting, his answer somehow mattered.
NFL Combine inquiries are often stupid, yes, but calculated. An attempt to measure a man in the places untouched by the physical exams, the drills, the body-probing cattle call. And no matter the intention of the Falcons assistant who asked Apple "So do you like men?" — to rib him, to rattle him, to test him, to out him — the repercussion remains the same: The question was asked, and any gay or bisexual NFL prospects will fairly wonder, "Why?