A Look Inside the Pre-Draft Interview

[BigHairedAristocrat]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

So for that reason, it's ok not to treat them as human beings? Let's suppose the question was laid out as originally told (that no mention of his dad's profession was mentioned). You think it's perfectly ok to ask someone if their mother was a prostitute simply because the player is asking the NFL to make a financial investment in him?

But why don't we actually find out about his mother?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/25/sp...ewanted=1&_r=1

how is asking a question not being treated like a human being? lets be realistic - in all likelyhood, Jeff Ireland had done enough research to already know the answer to the question. What he was interested in was how Bryant responded to the question - would he keep his cool or would he go off?

look at the trouble-makers in the NFL in recent years. The vast majority - if not all of them - come from broken families. whether its fair or not to profile players that way, its a harsh reality. In addition, Dez Bryant is universally regarded as a guy with serious character concerns and has the potential to kill a franchise. for that reason, it was reported that a number of teams had taken him off their draft boards alltogether.

Further, if team doesnt ask a guy a question like that in an interview, its garaunteed that a defender might say something similar to him in a game to get in his head. its prudent for a team to see how he responds to the question, as opposed to seeing if he goes ballistic and stomps on a cornerbacks head during a game.

it seems the vast majority of college athletes grow up relatively poor. They grow up watching rap videos on MTV that glorify the thug lifestyle. some are involved in gangs. alot are involved with drugs. Many have never held a real job before in thier life. How are they going to respond when they go from that lifestlye to being multi-millionaires overnight? or when they leave familiar surroundings for big-city life in NFL cities?

Given that context, i think not only is it justified, but its the smart thing to do to ask players whatever questions they want to ask to gauge a prospects potential mental and emotional makeup. in my opinion, teams would be smart to hire psychiatrists to either help them come of with questions, or be the ones asking the questions.