ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — On matters other than football, tight end Jeremy Shockey plans on keeping his mouth shut for the foreseeable future.

With his coach and a team spokesperson monitoring his every word, the outspoken New York Giants tight end apologized for making reported comments about Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells, insisting his words were in jest.

“I apologize for everything I said that offended people,” Shockey said. “I really, at the time, it was a laughing matter for me and I was just having fun with it.”

Shockey is quoted as calling Parcells a “homo” in an upcoming story in New York magazine. He also criticized the former Giants’ coach for retiring a couple of times, then returning to coaching.

“Let’s see how much Parcells wins this year,” Shockey said in the article. “I’ll make him pay when we play them. The homo.”

Giants spokesman Pat Hanlon said that Shockey believes the writer mistook a lighthearted conversation he was having with a friend as being serious, and incorrectly attributed the word “homo” to Shockey rather than the friend.

“I’m 100 percent sure I didn’t say that,” Shockey said after the statement became public.

“It’s obvious that if Jeremy had it to do over again, he would use a different set of words than he used at the time so the writer would not have interpreted his comments the way he did,” Hanlon told The Associated Press. “Jeremy is learning that there is no such thing as a throwaway line or throwaway word.”

New York magazine spokeswoman Serena Torrey said Friday the magazine stands by the story and the reporting by writer Chris Smith.

Smith has worked for the magazine for 15 years, writing on a range of subjects. The interview with Shockey, conducted last month, was taped, Torrey said.

A seemingly indifferent Shockey never mentioned Parcells directly in his latest apology for yet another poor choice of words. Last September, he made inflammatory remarks about gays on the Howard Stern radio show.

Shockey, who set team records for receptions by a rookie and a tight end in a Pro Bowl rookie season, reluctantly accepted responsibility for the current situation, saying it was his fault for letting the reporter “get the best of me.”

He vowed to avoid any future controversy.

“I am going to be as plain as possible,” Shockey said. “You’ll probably never hear me say an outrageous thing ever again. I’ll probably never talk to you again.”

Fassel didn’t think Shockey would shut down completely with the media, but he was confident the second-year player would tone things down. The coach also said he did not think the latest controversy would affect the way Shockey plays football.

The two had a 30-minute meeting in which Fassel did most of the talking and Shockey agreed to limit what he says and does off the field.

“I am fairly confident — very confident — that he is sincere that he is going to curtail it,” said Fassel, adding that Shockey won’t do any interviews or business and personal appearances without his knowledge.

Fassel said Shockey has a lot to learn about dealing with the media, noting that the Oklahoma native never realized New York metropolitan area newspapers would pick up comments he made to Maxim magazine about sexual fantasies.

Esera Tuaolo, a former NFL player who publicly came out last year, said such comments are a part of life in the locker room. The former defensive tackle played for Green Bay, Atlanta, Minnesota, Jacksonville and Carolina in a nine-year NFL career.

“To the players and the coaches, it’s no big deal for them, but for someone like me, it is a big deal,” Tuaolo told The Associated Press. “That’s one of the things we need to change. It’s a spoken language we need to change.”

Cathy Renna, a spokesperson of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, said: “It’s a reflection that it’s still OK to use that language in sports. He’s done it before. In some ways, it’s no surprise to us.”