Did the Dolphins have a right to ask Dez Bryant, ‘Is your mom a prostitute?’

NFL teams are scrutinizing players more heavily these days, in part because they are emphasizing character more than ever. But is it ever OK to ask a prospect bluntly, "Is your mom a prostitute?"...

TheGrio Staff

Apr 28, 2010

From Orlando Sentinel:

NFL teams are scrutinizing players more heavily these days, in part because they are emphasizing character more than ever.

But is it ever OK to ask a prospect bluntly, “Is your mom a prostitute?”

To recap, Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports reported that former Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant was asked that very question by Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland. Bryant was upset, but had no choice but to swallow his anger. Heaven forbid he allow his humiliation to affect his draft status.

Shortly after the report hit the Web on Tuesday, Ireland issued a statement saying he called Bryant to apologize. “My job is to find out as much information as possible about a player that I’m considering drafting. Sometimes that leads to asking in-depth questions,” Ireland said. “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.”

Bryant’s background had been the subject of many stories before the draft. His mom, Angela, had him when she was 15, and she also spent time in jail for selling crack cocaine. But does that give Ireland and the Dolphins the right to ask such an inappropriate question?

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