49ers CB Chris Culliver's controversial Super Bowl week ends in misery

Chris Strauss, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

NEW ORLEANS - Chris Culliver may not end up being the only one who needs sensitivity training.

After his anti-gay comments became a major distraction for the team in the latter part of Super Bowl week, the San Francisco 49ers cornerback's performance in Sunday night's 34-31 Super Bowl XLVII loss to the Baltimore Ravens may end up finding him on the receiving end of some angry rhetoric from fans at Candlestick Park next season.

Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco went after the second-year nickel corner early and often in the first half of the game, hitting Anquan Boldin with a 30-yard strike while Boldin was matched up with Culliver in the first quarter. It got even worse on the Ravens' final drive of the first half, with Flacco targeting Culliver on two incomplete passes, the second of which easily could have been called an offensive pass interference call on Baltimore receiver Torrey Smith.

After Culliver complained about the lack of a flag, he was picked on again, getting caught way out of position by receiver Jacoby Jones, who easily blew past him before juking safety Dashon Goldson for a 56-yard touchdown.

Then, after the Niners forged a second-half comeback to bring the score to 31-29, Culliver was called for pass interference on a third-and-9 that would have forced the Ravens to punt from their own 22 with just over nine minutes to play.

Asked about his Super Bowl experience as a whole, Culliver refused to say anything of much substance.

"It was just what I expected," he said. "The Super Bowl, everybody is watching. Like I said before, if you don't watch any games all season, you're going to watch the Super Bowl."

That's not exactly good news for a player who was practically anonymous five days ago.

Culliver is scheduled to begin working with The Trevor Project, an organization that provides crisis and suicide intervention to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth, his public relations representative, Theodore Palmer, said Saturday.

"It's just an opportunity for him to learn about his comments and educate himself about the LGBT community and grow," Palmer said. "It's the first step in learning about his words."

On media day Tuesday, comedian Artie Lange had raised the issue with Culliver about whether he would accept a teammate who was gay. The second-year player said he would not accept that and added that if the 49ers had any homosexual players, they should leave. Culliver's anti-gay comments drew an immediate rebuke from the team and an apologetic statement from the player Wednesday, followed by an hour-long Q&A on the subject during player availability with media Thursday.

While fans in the Bay Area may not be as forgiving of Culliver's comments or play on the biggest stage, linebacker Patrick Willis expressed his support for his teammate.

"I know that he feels bad," Willis said. "Cully is competitive, and he wants to win on every play. Today he had a tough one, and I stand behind him and I know what kind of player he is. This is only going to fuel him to make it better."