Dez Bryant and the Million Dollar Question #NFL

Job interviews can be rough. These days most companies go with the behavioral interview. That’s the one where they ask you to tell them about things you have done or would do. For instance, “tell me about a time that you were faced with a crisis and how you dealt with it” or, “if you were confronted with a disgruntled employee, what would you do” or, “is your Mother a street-walking, trick-turning, pimp-stick-avoiding, sex-for-money prostitute?”

That last one is always a tough one to dance around. Is there ever a right answer? What if she only dabbled in a bit of trading her body during college? What if she dated an older bald guy just because he bought her tons of gifts? There’s actually quite a bit of gray area there. Just ask newly drafted Dallas Cowboy wide receiver, Dez Bryant, who encountered that age-old query during a pre draft interview with the Miami Dolphins and their general manager, Jeff Ireland.

“You’re mother is a whore.” Or something very close to that.

Has any phrase ever started more fights? Even if it doesn't crack the top spot, it still makes the top two or three.

Yahoo! Sports, Michael Silver wrote about Bryant's interview with the Dolphins recently and Ireland has subsequently apologized for an ‘insensitive question’.

The Cowboys selected Bryant with the 24th overall pick.

Bryant has crazy game but has been referred to as a diva, been criticized for his work ethic, and had his toughness questioned. Oh yeah, he is also a liar. FACT. He lied to the NCAA about hanging with scumbag Deion Sanders, and got bounced from Oklahoma State because of it.

However, I am not sure that any of those things are a good enough reason to ask a guy if his mother is a prostitute. According to Bryant, that is exactly what happened.

“They asked me if my mom’s a prostitute,” Bryant says. “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.”

I can understand why he would get a little bent at that one. Granted, Mrs. Dez has a record. She sold drugs. She is not Mary Poppins. She might not even be Courtney Love, but still. It doesn’t mean you get to ask a guy if his mother is a professional whore, does it? Work ethic (or lack thereof), toughness (or lack thereof), being a baby, that matters. But his mom’s occupation? I can’t quite get passed that one.

Huge amounts of money are being given to players, and teams want to know as much as possible about who they are giving all that money to. I get the whole, 'What kind of tree would you be?’ question. It’s stupid, but I understand it. I see what the Dolphins were trying to do. See if they could rattle him, get him off his standard answers and see if he would snap. But with that? The ol’, ‘Is your mother a prostitute?’ trick? Weak.

Dez Bryant may in fact be a guy with major problems. He had all sorts of red flags coming into the draft. Anyone who rolls with Deion and then lies about it is a guy that I wouldn’t want on my team. But just because he is a dishonest, lazy, soft, primadonna (according to some) doesn’t mean you get to do the hooker question.

Ireland has since apologized. Kind of.

"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.

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."

Dez Bryant might flame in the NFL, he may well in fact be a bad investment on behalf of the Cowboys, but even if all of that is true, no one needs to be asked if their mother is a prostitute while interviewing for a job.

Not even a friend of Deion’s.

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