You mean like the Colts did with Marvin Harrison and Edjerrin James? Or Green Bay and Brett Favre? Or Pitt with Joey Porter? Or New England with Drew Bledsoe? Or Tennessee every year with seemingly every player?

I don't know how they "treated" them, because I wasn't there, but teams let their icons walk all the time.

You're a little late there degs, Ireland has already came out and apologized for asking Dez the question. I still don't have a problem with it, but man, the media is going to town with it. Poor little Dez Bryant wha wha wha.... *eye roll*

Mike & Mike, ESPN, PTI etc have just been going stupid about it.

The same article on Yahoo! Sports' website also cites several situations when other NFL teams have asked potentially insulting questions, bringing into question whether the league's predraft analysis of players has gone too far.

Three examples, aside from Ireland's question to Bryant, are given:

• Defensive tackle Gerald McCoy was asked during an interview with another NFL team at the Scouting Combine whether he plays in a G-string or a jock strap.

• Florida State safety Myron Rolle, who didn't play football at Florida State during his senior season to instead accept a Rhodes Scholarship, was asked by the Tampa Bay Bucs what it felt like to ``desert his team.''

• Running back Toby Gerhart was reportedly asked if being a white running back made him feel ``entitled.''



Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/28/1 ... z0mPDa0GB1

Your response doesn't seem to acknowledge or address what Iowa said. He said that TEAMS do this kind of thing all the time, not just the Dolphins. And he is right. It is common for teams to ask stupid or ridiculous questions of players all the time. There was a report of one Hurricanes player being asked if he would ever consider murdering someone leading up to this draft as well. That didn't get as much attention because it wasn't a) a Dolphins personnel guy asking it and b) Dez Bryant being asked.

Mike & Mike, ESPN, PTI etc have just been going stupid about it.

Here is a possible scenario where you could ask the same question with an ounce of tact:
"Now Dez, we have be reading some reports than your mother has had some troubles with the law. Can you please expound on these reports?"
and
"What is your mother's profession? (or career)"

If your wanting to know what she does for a living this is a great way to ask without being personally insulting. If your going for personally insulting, try a different tact other than insulting his mom.
"What would you say if a player called your mother a hoe?"
"Your mom has had a little bit of a checkered past, is this going to be a problem if other players taunt you on the field over this?"
"Have you ever gotten in a fight over something someone has said about your mother?"

Since you are positive of what he did not say, would you please enlighten us as to what he DID say?

Umm, he asked if Bryant's mom was a prostitute........
http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/ne ... id=5140313

Do you have a direct qoute from Ireland?

He could have worded this question a number of different ways and when Bryant was asked about it, all he said is "he asked if my mother is a prostitute." Nobody knows exactly what he said, all we know is how Bryant interpreted it.

If I am you paying six figures every year then I have the right. I need to know that you aren't going to get suspended because Joey Porter called your mama a ho.....The NFL is full of trash talkers and if he can't handle it from a middle aged wanna be kicker then he shouldn't be on this team.

If he wanted to know about his Mom's criminal history, then Mr. Ireland is an idiot and should have just run a background check.

I understand what your saying Rich, fans are too hard on their own teams (at least Dolphins fans), but honestly I am embarassed that someone from our team asked a draft prospect if his mother was a hoe. Asking if you would murder someone is an absurd question, but not exactly insulting. If someone asked if my mom was a whore, I would be replying with 'what does insulting my mother have to do with a job interview'? As for who the player was, that doesn't mean a hill of beans to me. I wasn't overly hyped on Bryant anyways. I thought we were going with Dan Williams or CJ Spiller at 12.

Last Wednesday, the night before he was selected 24th overall by the Cowboys, former Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant(notes) told me that during one of his predraft visits, a high-level executive of one NFL franchise had asked him if his mother, Angela, was a prostitute.


“No, my mom is not a prostitute,” said Bryant, whose background – including his mother’s lifestyle and past legal troubles – was under great scrutiny prior to the draft. “I got mad – really mad – but I didn’t show it.”


I’ve since been told by a source close to Bryant that Ireland was the person who asked the question

Not every piece of information is attainable in a background check....

Very true, I am a lawyer and deal with background checks all day long. However, he would find out a helluva lot more from her rap sheet than he would from straight out asking her son if she was a hooker.

The media is blowing this way way way out of proportion. If I had a million dollars to invest, I would wanna know if your going to take my money and spend it on hookers. Wouldn't you? Was it insensitive? Hell no. You need to know that if gets all this money he is going to hold himself in high regard rather than dump it on dumb crap I.E. Adam Jones, Ben Rothlisberger, and so on....... People need to understand that we aren't talkin' about a few dollars we are talking about millions not only in salary but in fan revenue too.

Umm there is one problem with your logic there, he wasn't asking if Dez spent money on hookers, he asked if Dez's mom was a hooker. Slight difference, unless your implying incest.

Generally speaking, if you're brought up in that sort of environment you will think it is acceptable to participate.

Here is a possible scenario where you could ask the same question with an ounce of tact:
"Now Dez, we have be reading some reports than your mother has had some troubles with the law. Can you please expound on these reports?"
and
"What is your mother's profession? (or career)"

If your wanting to know what she does for a living this is a great way to ask without being personally insulting. If your going for personally insulting, try a different tact other than insulting his mom.
"What would you say if a player called your mother a hoe?"
"Your mom has had a little bit of a checkered past, is this going to be a problem if other players taunt you on the field over this?"
"Have you ever gotten in a fight over something someone has said about your mother?"

As the Dez Bryant-Jeff Ireland controversy continues to draw conflicting opinions, a former NFL front office employee who now prepares players for pre-draft interviews has provided his two cents, via Tim Graham of ESPN.com.

"I don't feel there are any topics off-limits," Ken Herock told Graham. "If anybody thinks they're off-limits, put yourself in the eyes of an employer that's going to hire a 21-year-old and pay him $15 million or $20 million."

So, basically, Herock thinks teams have the right to ask incoming players whether their mothers are or were prostitutes. "They already know about his family," Herock said. "They just want to see how he reacts and how he's going to explain it and how he's going to handle it. . . . I don't think that question was out of line."

Ken Herock's business is preparing prospects for NFL interviews.

He's not interested in 40-yard dash times or bench press repetitions. His mission is training college kids to make an impression when it's time to shake hands with general managers, scouts and head coaches before the draft.

The former NFL personnel director grooms them to be ready for anything because no subject is off the table -- not even questions about whether your mother is a hooker.

"I don't feel there are any topics off-limits," Herock said Thursday afternoon. "If anybody thinks they're off-limits, put yourself in the eyes of an employer that's going to hire a 21-year-old and pay him $15 million or $20 million."

Herock finds nary a problem with the controversial question Miami Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland posed to Oklahoma State receiver Dez Bryant in a pre-draft interview.

Ireland asked if Bryant's mother was a prostitute. She has served 18 months in prison for selling crack and had admitted to abusing PCP, cocaine and marijuana.

"If somebody just comes out and says 'We hear your mom's a prostitute. Can you explain that situation to me?' I don't think there's anything offensive asking that question," Herock said.


...

"They already know about his family. They just want to see how he reacts and how he's going to explain it and how he's going to handle it.

"I don't think that question was out of line."

The mother of Dallas Cowboys draft pick Dez Bryant wants an apology for a question Miami Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland asked her son in a pre-draft interview, saying that her distant past conviction on drug charges is unfairly being used against her son.

ESPN, however, has learned that Angela Bryant has had a more recent run-in with the law.
"When they couldn't find enough dirt on him, they went to that," she told Fanhouse.com on Monday. "It was almost like a scheme. They should never have put that kind of thing or question on him. Whatever reason they chose to do that, they are talking about my charges of 12 years ago and running with it. I'm not OK with it. But we are both going to be OK."

It had previously been known that Angela Bryant was convicted for selling crack cocaine in 1997 and served 18 months in prison.

Lufkin, Texas, police records acquired by ESPN on Monday show that she also was arrested in April 2009 after she was caught selling crack cocaine to police informants. In August, she was found guilty of two felony counts for possession of a controlled substance and the manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance, and she was sentenced to 10 years' probation.

Yahoo! Sports first reported that Ireland had asked Bryant during a pre-draft interview if his mother was a prostitute. SI.com later reported that Ireland's question was a follow-up to Bryant saying his father was a pimp and his mother worked for his father. Bryant denied ever telling Ireland his father was a pimp.

Even if Ireland wants to call her, it wouldn't be for a week or two. It would take him that long to page through Craigslist to find her number...