That was my impression also. But whether he was forced to apologize or not, it goes back to what White men are expected -- and all but forced to do in this anti-White society.
Just as blacks played certain roles in the (((movies))) of the 1930s and later -- step n fetchits, submissives, funny, showing bug-eyed fear, etc., and often acted that way in real life -- now White men, including professional athletes, know that in any racial situation they have to be submissive and never acknowledge any kind of racism or hatred directed against them by non-Whites, especially blacks. That's the work environment Rudolph must exist in and go along with, which is why I've always strongly disagreed with those who occasionally single out a random White quarterback or some other White athlete and excoriate him for not acting the way we would want him to in some ideal society, essentially martyr himself to please a group of anonymous posters on a marginalized web forum, when they know they have to act in certain ways to keep their jobs, just as about everyone does now with HR harridins and gatekeepers and change agents everywhere, always watching and monitoring everything.