Bijan Robinson has issued a public apology after making an “insensitive comment” following a game on Thursday. The football player made a reference to a childhood game that uses a slur toward LGBTQ+ people. He posted an apology on social media shortly after making the comment on air.

Bijan Robinson made a comment that offended the LGBTQ+ community during Thursday Night Football

Robinson was interviewed with his Atlanta Falcons teammates Kyle Pitts and Kirk Cousins after they won a game on Thursday evening. The Falcons won 29-28 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

He made a reference to a backyard football game played by children and compared it to the game his team had just won. Robinson was asked about making defenders miss.

He replied with, “Smear the queer. That’s what we do,” according to Newsweek.

The name of the game features a slur directed toward the LGBTQ+ community. It involves one player with a ball who tries to avoid being tackled by the other players trying to take the ball away. The game has commonly been renamed “kill the carrier” in order to erase the slur from the title, according to ABC News.

Bijan Robinson apologized for the ‘insensitive comment’ he made

Robinson took to social media that same evening to issue a public apology: “Hey everyone I want to apologize for the insensitive comment I made in the broadcast, it was a football game we used to play as a kid but that’s not an excuse,” he wrote on X. “I recognize the mistake and make sure to do better in the future. It was not reflective of my beliefs and I am so sorry to those I offended seriously!”

Robinson also posted his apology across his other social media platforms, including Instagram Stories.