Miami Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland apologized to Dallas Cowboys first-round draft pick Dez Bryant on Tuesday for asking whether his mother was a prostitute during a pre-draft visit.
David Wells, Bryant’s advisor, told ESPNDallas.com on Tuesday that the former Oklahoma State wide receiver was asked about his mother during a visit to the Dolphins before the NFL draft in March, as reported by Yahoo! Sports last week.
On Tuesday, Yahoo! Sports revealed that Ireland who asked the question to Bryant.
Wells and Bryant declined further comment.
“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 Tuesday in a statement released by the Dolphins. “Having said that, I talked to Dez Bryant and told him I used poor judgment in one of the questions I asked him. I certainly meant no disrespect and apologized to him.”
Ireland received permission from the Cowboys front office to speak with Bryant on Tuesday.
Yahoo! Sports reported last wek that during one of his pre-draft visits, Bryant was asked by a high-level executive of one NFL franchise — during a extensive conversation about Bryant’s past — whether his mother, Angela, was a prostitute.
“No, my mom is not a prostitute,” Bryant told Yahoo! Sports. “I got mad — really mad — but I didn’t show it. I got a lot of questions like that: Does she still do drugs? I sat and answered all of them.”
The background of Bryant and his mother — including her lifestyle and past legal troubles — were widely reported prior to the draft. Angela was only 15 when Dez was born, and she served time in jail for selling crack cocaine.
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