He has the right to be uncomfortable, but his employer has the right to object and issue reprimands if their employee makes a statement they find distasteful while their employee is representing the company.
And you didn't answer my questions: Are you a homosexual? Why are you defending the NFL?
I never did say that I thought his statement was distasteful. I said that the NFL and the 49’s thought that the statement was distasteful.
And as long as the 49’s are writing his paycheck, they can have expectations as to what their employees say to the media while on company time.