Behold! The craziest questions NFL prospects have been asked leading up to the draft

Before the 2010 draft, Dez Bryant was asked if his mother was a prostitute by Miami Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland.

There are other ways to learn about a player’s mental makeup or background. That question shows just how little many of these NFL front offices think of these players.

“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,” Ireland said after the incident. That question was as deep as the shallow end of the pool.

In another interview from 2010, Gerald McCoy was questioned about the style of undergarment he prefers to play in.

“Someone asked me if I wore a G-string or a jockstrap when I played,” McCoy told the NFL Network. This isn’t nearly as offensive as what Bryant was asked, but it certainly wasn’t a necessary question in evaluating McCoy. It makes you wonder how folks keep their jobs after carrying on like this.

Defensive end Obum Gwacham was presented with a question about when he lost his virginity. His response is one of the best, as he didn’t answer this silly question. What does that have to do with how well he will play on the football field?

Sometimes I think these front offices sit around and come up with the most ridiculous questions just to see what type of reaction they can get from guys.

Cornerback Eli Apple even had a wildly intrusive question thrown at him about his sexual preference.

“I’ve been asked a lot of weird questions. I don’t know if I could say on TV,” Apple said.

“The Falcons coach, one of the coaches, was like, ‘So do you like men?’ It was like the first thing he asked me. It was weird. I was just like, ‘no.’ He was like, ‘if you’re going to come to Atlanta, sometimes that’s how it is around here, you’re going to have to get used to it.’ I guess he was joking, but they just ask most of these questions to see how you’re going to react.”

Isn’t this type of question flat-out illegal in most workplaces in America? But NFL coaches can get away with this because of what? This makes very little sense.

Austen Lane was asked if he’d use a gun or a knife to murder someone. This one isn’t as bad, but still a waste of time for the player and the interviewer. I’m sure they had many other questions that would’ve helped them better evaluate Lane. Forget armchair quarterbacks; some of these front office people feel like they’re playing armchair psychiatrists.

Another strange one not attached to a specific player was whether a prospect found their mother attractive.

Why the hell do you need to ask anyone this question? Especially someone you’re supposed to be vetting to find out what kind of player they’d be for your organization. It makes me wonder if there was alcohol in the room during these interviews.

SLIDE #7Brandon Doughty

Brandon Doughty was asked a creative yet dumb question during his interview process in 2016. Doughty was asked where he’d be seated on a bus going 100mph on a mountain in Alaska? And just what the hell does that have to do with the price of tea in China?

This question was certainly different and not offensive, but its relevance to the situation is what should be questioned. I almost hope the person conducting this interview was sipping on a glass of cognac before they started. That would explain a lot.

One player was questioned about the colors of chocolate, snow, and butter. Yes, you read that correctly.

“I think it was the Cardinals coach who started off by asking me, “What color is chocolate?” “Brown.” And then he was like, “What color is melted chocolate,” and I think I said dark brown, and he said, “No, don’t overthink it.’” So I said brown. Then he said, “What color is butter?” then, “What color is melted butter?” “Yellow.” “What color is snow?” “White.” “What color is melted snow?” I said, “White.” And then he said, “Nope, melted snow is clear, so what does that make snow?” I was like, “Clear,” he said, “Yep,” and that was kind of the icebreaker.”

This last question seems more irritating than anything. But I’m sure you understand what I’m saying about these questions and their irrelevance. They have none. The NFL finally instituted a punishment for disrespectful, inappropriate, or unprofessional conduct during these pre-draft interviews.

Franchises will be hit with a minimum $150,000 fine if it is determined that any team representative has conducted themselves in such a manner. In addition to a fine, teams will also forfeit a draft pick between the first and fourth rounds.

This rule was implemented this year, so we’ll see what stories come out over time after this draft is in the books. Hopefully, this is enough to stop some of the league’s front office personnel from being idiots and asking questions that don’t need to be discussed. While this may clean up the process somewhat, there’s always a jackass out there just waiting to buck the system.