N.F.L. Is Pressured on Issues of Gay Rights

The N.F.L.’s investigation into why a team employee asked a college player if he liked girls during last month’s scouting combine has found that the comment was part of casual banter — “chatter that was inappropriate” — but not part of a formal interview process, said Robert Gulliver, the league’s top human resources executive. The league is still trying to determine how many players and teams might have had similar exchanges, with the possibility remaining of fines for teams involved, Gulliver said last week. But whatever the outcome of the inquiry, it will almost certainly not put an end to what has become a hot-button issue for the country’s most macho sports league.