SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Running back Garrison Hearst sought forgiveness. Team director John York spoke about tolerance. Coach Steve Mariucci touched on a lesson in social awareness.

A day after Heart's derogatory remarks about gays became widely known, the 49ers running back apologized in an emotional 45-second statement Friday that followed a meeting with Mariucci and discussions with York.

"Being an African-American, I know that discrimination is wrong. I was wrong for saying what I said about anybody - any race, any religion," Hearst said in an unusual post-practice news conference.

"I want to apologize to the San Francisco 49ers' organization, the city of San Francisco, for the comments that I made and also to my teammates for bringing this distraction upon us. I hope that everyone can accept my apology," Hearst said.

He did not take any questions.

Hearst has been under fire for his harsh remarks about gays, which he made to the Fresno Bee following an Oct. 27 game against the Arizona Cardinals. The remarks did not gain wide distribution until this week.

Responding to questions about former NFL player Esera Tuaolo's decision to come out of the closet and the willingness of players to accept a gay teammate, Hearst used a slur against homosexuals and said, "Aww, hell no! I don't want any...on my team. I know this might not be what people want to hear, but that's a punk. I don't want any...in this locker room."

Mariucci said there's no room for discrimination in the locker room or anywhere else, a point he drove home in a 15-minute meeting with his players and later, when he said he saw no reason a gay player couldn't be a part of his team.

"The bottom line is, is a fella good enough to play football for the 49ers?" said Mariucci. "It doesn't matter where he's from or his sexual orientation or his race or color or any of that. Is he good enough to play for the 49ers? If that's the case, then he can be on my football team."

In a strongly worded statement, York said he and his wife, team owner Denise DeBartolo York, were deeply troubled by Hearst's remarks and conveyed their concerns to the player.

"I believe that Garrison has a much better understanding about tolerance today than when he made his comments," the Yorks said. "These comments were inappropriate and hurtful to the gay and lesbian community, our fans, the city of San Francisco and the NFL."

Mariucci said he remains surprised that Hearst, one of the team's most popular players and the NFL's comeback player of the year after returning last season from a devastating ankle injury, was the source of such inflammatory remarks.

"I hope that we're able to learn something from it, every one of us in that meeting room, and also that we can be forgiven," Mariucci said. "Those comments are not warranted anywhere in this country. We need to be in the know and we need to be sensitive to all the issues. Yes, we're a football team, but we're also members of society."

Gay rights advocates, meanwhile, cited Hearst's derogatory comments in a letter sent to NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue. Elizabeth Birch, the executive director of the Washington-based Human Rights Campaign, is asking Tagliabue to begin a "a dialogue about ways the league can implement existing guidelines regarding harassment and discrimination against gay players."

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

While the Hearst episode mushroomed into a national issue and a hot topic on talk shows, the reaction has been much more muted and mixed among his teammates, who are readying for Monday night's nationally televised game against the Philadelphia Eagles amid the political firestorm.

"It's certainly regrettable," tackle Scott Gragg of Hearst's original remarks.

But he said the uproar "really is a distraction for this team," adding, "The 49ers are not here to solve world peace. We're here to win football games and I think that's what we need to do."

Fullback Fred Beasley countered too much has been made of the whole thing.

"It's not a distraction to this team," he said. "If people knew what was going on in the locker room and what we joke about every day, it would be a big deal each and every day. It's just not a big deal to us. To some people, it is."

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