Thursday 5 October 2017 19:25, UK
Washington Redskins receiver Terrelle Pryor said an obscene gesture to rival supporters in Kansas City was prompted by racial insults, an incident the NFL has said it is investigating.
Pryor made an obscene gesture as he was leaving the field following Washington's 29-20 loss at Kansas City on Monday with a heckler shouting obscenities and Pryor responding with words and a middle finger.
Redskins strength and conditioning coach Chad Englehart restrained Pryor as he turned towards the spectator.
Pryor, 28, said on Instagram he was "aggravated by a fan calling him the N-word several times to the point where an NFL employee had to step to me and stand by me the whole game from second quarter on."
Pryor called it "the exact reason why guys are kneeling during the anthem," a nod to the NFL player protests against racial injustice that have sparked controversy in recent weeks after US President Donald Trump called for players who kneeled to be fired.
Saying he chose not to kneel because the team decided as a group to stand during the pre-game playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner," Pryor apologised to team-mates and the Redskins organisation for responding to the heckler on his terms.
"But at some point you keep calling us The N word ... we going to start acting up," Pryor said.
NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart said on Thursday that the NFL will ban any person for future games if it can identify them making a racial slur at a player.
"We have no tolerance for racial comments directed to anyone," Lockhart said. "Those fans are not welcome to come back this week, next week, or any time."
