Giants' David Tyree Claims Remorse Over Past Antigay Statements

The New York Giants' new director of player development, who is known both for his game winning catch at Super Bowl XLII and his staunchly conservative religious views, says he has turned over a new leaf.

After being named to the Giants new post, it was revealed that Tyree had had a history of statements and tweets opposing LGBT rights, including a 2011 tweet in which he asserted that people can change their sexual orientation that there is "no scientific data to support the claim of being born gay." He also worked with the National Organization for Marriage against marriage equality in New York State, and said allowing same-sex couples to wed would lead to anarchy.

According to Outsports, Tyree met former player and You Can Play executive director Wade Davis at the NFL rookie symposium in June, where Tyree thanked Davis for his work. The two spoke again after Tyree's anti-LGBT activism came to light, and he told Davis that he was actually unfamiliar with the practice, and did not not know many gay people.

"He did meet a couple people who told him they were ex-gays," Davis said to Outsports. "He said he hasn't met a ton of people who are gay but that he's looking to develop a long relationship with me and other gay people to learn more about it. And it's going to be a growth process for him, and he's going to need to have a friendship with someone who is LGBT and spend quality time with him."

Tyree also said he had no problem with openly gay players like Michael Sam being on his team.

"I think he feels badly about the stuff he said three years ago," Davis said.