I tweeted about this as well, but feel like this is a blog issue. Jeff Ireland, the general manager of the Miami Dolphins, asked Dez Bryant during a pre-draft interview if his mother was a prostitute. That seems out of line, but you have to know Bryant’s history. He has been considered a cancer to his college football team, the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
My take is the pro team that hires him (now the Dallas Cowboys) will make a multi-million dollar investment in him. He could get as much as 15 million guaranteed. Do you really want to take a chance on a guy who has a troubled upbringing and problems of his own and risk a large sum of money for a guy who could get in a felony or a misdemeanor situation with the law? I don’t think you want to take that chance.

I side with Ireland on this one as harsh a question as that may seem. With Ben Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes joining the list of players who have acted badly and caused their teams to lose good sums of money and embarrassed their  franchise, the Steelers in those two cases (the Steelers have to pay back the NFL a penalty for Ben R.’s and Holmes missed games, significant amounts of money), I don’t blame GM’s, team presidents, owners or coaches, for questioning character. It not only puts a bad name on the franchise that will cause that franchise to possibly lose fans, but will also cost the franchise significant cash. I know the fans will probably come back, but it’s not good business for sure.

I’m sorry if I’m insensitive, but the reality is this is a business like any other and lost work time costs the company money. These players are paid extremely well, so it’s their responsibility to represent their organization in a law-abiding, classy manner. We spoil these guys because they have God-given talent that others don’t have in their particular field, in this case football. They need to understand that with privileges comes responsibility. An old adage “character matters,” is totally appropriate for NFL players. It does matter. It can make or break a team.

Just work hard and behave. You can go out with friends, have a beer of two after a game, but act responsibly. Get a taxi, control yourself. A lot of Americans can do that. Spoiled athletes need to be able to do that, too.

So Ireland’s questioning of Bryant to me was an intelligent move. It’s called due diligence. Any other company would do it before making an investment in an employee. And we’re talking possibly 15 million guaranteed for Bryant. That’s not Monopoly money. I would do everything possible to find out if this employee is capable of helping the company and not losing it money, significant amounts of money. If not, I’m not going to hire him. It’s just common sense.