Character issues.

This loosely defined term has become virtually as important as a player’s 40-yard dash time when it comes to the NFL Draft. The idea is acceptable – teams don’t want their locker rooms to be filled with punch throwers or drug abusers, bad attitudes and uncoachable personalities. Prior to making draft-day decisions, coaches and managers need to gauge whether a guy with said issues is worth the risk (Terrell Owens) or headed for disaster (Pacman Jones).

This recent boom in concern has led to the increased importance of player interviews. The meetings between potential draftees, coaches and management are private in theory, but have become undeniably public. The year-round coverage of the draft yields every fine detail of a player’s life, from academic performance to recreational drug usage, and even to music selection.

Unfortunately, this trend has taken the interviewing process to a dangerous level. These interactions have now escaped from the comfortable discussion of locker room stability, and have now become superfluous interrogations that can offend and belittle a player and those near to him.

Take for example Dez Bryant, the former Oklahoma State wide receiver and 2010 first-round draft pick of the Dallas Cowboys. Bryant grew up in conditions foreign to most of us. His mother gave birth to him when she was just 15 and has served jail time for a drug-related offense. Bryant’s difficult upbringing, coupled with his NCAA suspension in 2009 for lying about contact with former NFL star Deion Sanders, made teams feel that they had reason to suspect that the star receiver may have character issues. Fair enough.

But in unbelievable fashion, one team executive crossed the line. During an interview in March, Miami Dolphins General Manager Jeff Ireland asked Bryant if his mother was a prostitute.

Ireland’s job is to build a football team. He is employed to optimize the talent, structure and efficiency of the Miami organization. He is not responsible for humiliating prospective players with distasteful and irrelevant questions.

He attempted to justify his actions by stating that it is his job to find out as much information about a player as possible. What he failed to grasp was that this responsibility begins and ends between the hashes. His job is to ensure that Bryant and every other potential Dolphin would mesh well with the current chemistry of the team and represent the team well off the field. Does the background of Bryant’s mother really matter? Absolutely not.

Additionally, what if Bryant had said yes? Would the Dolphins have based Bryant’s draft stock on his mother’s background? Are her life choices directly related to her son’s ability to play professional football? Would they guarantee that Dez would follow suit and partake in illegal activities?

Ireland won’t lose his job. He’ll come under temporary scrutiny, and it will pass over in a matter of days. In fact, many Miami fans will agree that the question was not only acceptable, but necessary. It’s not entirely their fault – the obsession with the NFL Draft has catapulted college kids straight to the celebrity ranks. They are now expected to pass every “character” test with flying colors, and if not, they are expected to face the consequences. Character issues no longer begin and end with the player, but have extended to anyone remotely associated with him.

Yet something needs to be done to ensure that these practices are monitored. What if you interviewed for an office position and the employer asked if your brother was a cocaine addict? How would you react? The idea is comical – why would this have any bearing on my credentials or opportunity to work? – but the situation is far from funny.

I’m sympathetic for Dez Bryant. It’s unfortunate that a kid that has come so far has to be constantly probed to rehash the memories of his childhood. He demonstrated incredible poise during the interview, and amazingly didn’t lose his cool. He is a phenomenal football player, and I wish him all the success in the world. I hope he burns Miami corners for the next 12 years and instills envy in all of the GMs that passed on him because of his “poor character.”

Football is just a game, and the Draft is merely a small portion of it. Ireland and his colleagues need to be held to a very high standard when conducting player interviews. With the off-the-field issues of NFL players consuming sports news, character is surely an important issue. But the questions are going too far, and football executives are inappropriately and inaccurately deciding how to determine character.

Jeff Ireland, you should be ashamed.

Zach Zimmerman thinks Terrell Owens is worth the risk. Find out if Dez Bryant will also lead the league in dropped passes and sideline arguments at zachz “at” stanford.edu.