Sign In Using Facebook  |  Sign In  |  Sign Up

Dez Bryant Vs. The Miami Dolphins

James Polifroni Written by James Polifroni, Sunday May 02 2010
Text Size - A +

I held off for awhile, but I think it’s finally time to remark on the Dez Bryant saga. I feel that the public consensus believes that Jeff Ireland, Dolphins GM, was in the wrong to ask Bryant about his mother’s profession. While searching through postings on the matter here at Player Press, it seems that most articles agree with this consensus. I’m here to tell you, however, that Jeff Ireland was not in the wrong.

Let’s first take a look at the conversation (paraphrased) according to an NFL source:

Jeff Ireland: “What did your father do for a living?”
Bryant: "My dad was a pimp."

Jeff Ireland: "What did your mom do [for a living]?"

Bryant: "She worked for my dad."

Ireland: "Your mom was a prostitute?"

Bryant: "No, she wasn't a prostitute."
 It seems to me that Ireland was assuming what most people would. Granted, in any other situation, asking anyone at anytime if their mother was a prostitute is in poor taste. The NFL combine, though, is not any other situation. The Dolphins, along with every other NFL team, are deciding whether or not to make an investment of millions of dollars on a kid. I do not blame players for not understanding that and I certainly don’t blame Bryant for being upset about it. Still, nothing is off-limits. And, for the record, if Player Press wanted to give me millions of dollars to write for them, I’d be open to answering a few potentially insulting questions.
With all of this said, I do think that the character issues that apparently follow Dez Bryant are blown way out of proportion. As I mentioned in my draft recap, the kid persevered through a number of tough situations, and never really did anything morally offensive. I’d even speculate that Ireland did not ask the question for the answer: Instead, he asked it to see how Dez would respond. As a matter of fact, I’d go as far as to say that “the question” ended positively for Dez. Although he was highly insulted (and probably even enraged) he was able to gather himself and calmly answer the question. With everything Dez Bryant has been through, do not expect him to lose his cool over words.
I appreciate how you all feel. I understand that it sounds like an outrageous thing to ask someone. But, if you take the time to consider the situation, I think we can all agree that it’s time to move on. So please let Jeff Ireland do his job free of unfair persecution and allow Dez Bryant to focus on football and prove to everyone that he was, unquestionably, the best offensive talent in the 2010 draft.

Tags:  



Recent Dolphins Articles






Leave a comment

Name *
Email *
Website

Create date
— :

Article

Sport

City

Team

Photo

X

Not So Fast! To publish your comment, you have to login

Not Registered? Register now as it only take 20 seconds!



Click here to browse




1 comment


0 up down 0
finfaninLAbutfromMIAfinfaninLAbutfromMIA, over 2 years ago said:

good article... I still think Ireland as a professional could have handled it better. He is the GM and the question seemed more like a knee-jerk reaction without proper thought. As the adult and responsible professional in the room, he owes the Miami Dolphins that. Some feel Ireland is doing that......some feel like i do....like he needs to take some etiquette classes.. At the end of the day, I am a Miami Dolphin fan first and will root for my team....i don't want the issues of management preventing my team from getting better and better.