Adena Andrews.com

My newest article on AOL’s The BVX.com

Questions to expect during a job interview: Name, date of birth… does your mom have sex for cash? Don’t believe this actually happened? Ask NFL rookie Dez Bryant who was subjected to this tomfoolery in his recent NFL pre-draft interview and he’s not the only one.

The most disturbing part of this story is Miami Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland asked the question because he knew he could and that Bryant, a young black man from Lufkin, Texas, would be a “good boy” and answer. Bryant wanted his NFL dream so badly that he wouldn’t dare lash out at the blatant disrespect of his mother. This is exemplifies the routine abuse young NFL players with big eyes and empty pockets endure in their quest for the league.

NFL Players do not have guaranteed contracts and are at times as dispensable as the shoulder pads that hang in the locker room. They are inspected in a way that recalls the slave trade and the biggest contract goes to the largest, fastest and strongest black buck. So when it comes to pre-draft interviews, respect for the potential player is probably the last thing on a general manager’s mind.

However, Bryant’s mother, who is a convicted felon and touts numerous encounters with the law, won’t be catching passes so why was she an interview topic? While it’s true that pre-draft interview questions can get a bit out of hand — a player was once asked “if you were a hot dog and you were starving would you eat yourself? — attacking the character of a family member, especially a mother is unheard of.

Still, Bryant’s experience only highlights a disrespectful trend in the NFL. Other examples include the Cincinnati Bengals asking draftee Geno Atkins if he was gay. NFL veteran Marcellus Wiley, an ivy-league grad, was asked in an interview if he did drugs. Also Anthony Prior, NFL veteran and Author of “The Slave Side of Sunday,” writes coaches would routinely call players porch monkeys, sambos and boy to mentally train them.

Had Bryant been a more combustible character and not such a “good boy,” this news story could have been a whole lot worse.

Although this is sports, where ass-slapping and swearing is considered motivational, team personnel must remember the NFL is a mega-corporation, not a plantation.