If you think the political world is the only whacked-out place when you hear people like Tom Tancredo and Steve King putting their feet in their mouths, you are mistaken my friends.
NFL football teams spend a ton of money on drafting college players and they put them through the mill when it comes to evaluating them, but the Dolphins' GM, Jeff Ireland, crossed the line of decency.
The media criticism has been frustrating, but some of the probing from prospective employers has been downright offensive to Bryant. During one visit, the receiver sat in the office of a franchise’s high-level executive and was asked a shocking question.
“They asked me if my mom’s a prostitute,” Bryant says, an account that was confirmed by Wells, who attended the meeting. “No, my mom is not a prostitute. I got mad – really mad – but I didn’t show it. I got a lot of questions like that: Does she still do drugs? I sat and answered all of them.”
Bryant’s mother, Angela, had him when she was 15 and conceived his younger sister and brother within the next three years. She reportedly sold drugs, and she served a prison term during Dez’s childhood; at various times he lived with relatives and family friends. Dez and Angela are very close, and she will be with him at Wells’ house for a festive draft party Thursday evening.
Jeff Ireland apologized for his lack of judgment after this story was reported.
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross will "take appropriate actions if necessary" against general manager Jeff Ireland for asking former Oklahoma State receiver Dez Bryant whether his mother was ever a prostitute.
Ireland apologized for the question, and the NFL players union raised concerns Wednesday about discrimination and degradation.
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Ireland's apology came only after Yahoo! Sports reported that he posed the question several weeks ago during a pre-draft interview with Bryant.
"My job is to find out as much information as possible about a player that I'm considering drafting," Ireland said in a statement. "Sometimes that leads to asking in-depth questions. Having said that, I talked to Dez Bryant and told him I used poor judgment in one of the questions I asked him. I certainly meant no disrespect and apologized to him.
"I appreciate his acceptance of that apology, and I told him I wished him well as he embarks on his NFL career."
Listen, I hate the Cowboys and I wasn't thrilled when they drafted the talented receiver (since I'm a NY Giants fan), but even if Bryant's mom was a prostitute, how is that supposed to shed light on his ability to be a pro athlete or how he'll perform? Dez dropped in the draft because the MSM has said he's had some issues. A thought passed through my mind when I heard this. I wonder: If he were a white player, would he have been asked this question? It just made me wonder momentarily, that's all.
Many great athletes come from all walks of life, including very poor and gang-filled neighborhoods that are chock full of guns and drugs, so now a player's "character" is being used also to determine if a team will draft a player. The NFL does have an exorbitant amount of players who are involved in crimes and violence so I get GMs being thorough, but hopefully no more demeaning questions will be asked of these young men.
And this begs another question. Is this a routine type question that is asked of many players by GM's in the NFL? I'd like to hear from more players on this issue because the teams will offer up that information.
Oh, I almost forgot. Ben Roethlisberger went out of his way to show his contrition by releasing a three paragraph statement via email about his suspension. Nice Ben.
