Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports
If you recall, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver didn't exactly have the best Super Bowl week. After his anti-gay comments during media day became a major distraction leading up to the game, Culliver struggled in Super Bowl XLVII as Joe Flacco targeted the second-year corner frequently during the Baltimore Ravens' 34-31 win.
While Culliver won't be able to show his football development on the field until September, he does appear to be working on his off the field growth this offseason. On Monday he followed through on his commitment to meet with The Trevor Project, an organization that provides crisis and suicide intervention to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth.
While only Culliver knows if this is a genuine attempt to understand more about the struggles of gay teens or solely a PR move, the 24-year-old did spend the entire day at the group's Los Angeles office, along with 49ers vice president of football affairs Keena Turner and public relations director Bob Lange. According to the Sacramento Bee, Culliver also met Sunday with the group's executive director.
Via Sacramento Bee:
Trevor Project spokeswoman Laura McGinnis said that if Culliver follows through on becoming a volunteer, there are several things he could do, including becoming a crisis intervention volunteer or working with programs directed at young people, ages 13-24. McGinnis said there was no reason to suspect that Culliver wasn't sincere in his desire to understand and help at-risk youth.
"Chris is a young guy himself," she said. "He reached out to The Trevor Project. And that's a good thing."
Culliver's tweet was the only comment he's made so far on his visit, although he did issue an initial statement back in February after his remarks went public in which he said that "I was wrong, and I want to learn how to make it right."
Monday's visit was a step in that direction. Whether Culliver takes any additional ones without a camera or the team's PR staff in tow is entirely up to him.