Account
Packers WR Devin Funchess Apologizes for Using Anti-Asian Slur: 'It Was Not OK'
August 8, 2021
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Devin Funchess apologized Saturday after using an anti-Asian slur at a press conference.
"I want to apologize for the disparaging remark I used tonight. It was not OK," Funchess wrote. "I have grown to develop deep personal and business relationships in the Asian community! I meant no harm, and those that know me know I have love and respect for all cultures and people. I will learn from this and continue to grow as a person. I’m forever sorry!"
Funchess told reporters, who were wearing masks, he could tell when they were smiling at him because of the way their eyes looked. He used an anti-Asian slur to describe their eyes.
Funchess, who opted out of the 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, is in his first season with the Packers. The 27-year-old previously played for the Carolina Panthers and Indianapolis Colts.
Acts of anti-Asian racism have been trending upward over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was first discovered in Wuhan, China. Eighty-one percent of Asian Americans surveyed in April by the Pew Research Center said violence against them had increased, and 45 percent said they had experienced "an incident tied to their racial or ethnic background" during the pandemic.
The Packers have not commented on Funchess' remark.
