Here we go again.
NFL prospects are understandably supposed to receive tough questions during the combine process, but to straight up ask someone about their sexuality is beyond inappropriate. And quite frankly, its ridiculous.
LSU running back Derrius Guice confirmed in an interview on Wednesday (March 7) that an NFL team asked him if he was a homosexual.
It was pretty crazy, Guice said in an interview with SiriusXM NFL show Late Hits.
In addition to that question, another team asked if his mother was a prostitute or not.
Some people are really trying to get in your head and test your reactionI go in one room and a team will ask me ‘do I like men’, just to see my reaction. I go in another room, theyll try to bring up one of my family members or something and tell me, Hey, I heard your mom sells herself. How do you feel about that?
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Despite these outlandish questions, Guise was advised prior to the NFL combine to come in prepared for everything and anything.
Most would agree both questions were flagrant as hell to even ask but were they illegal? Not necessarily.
According to Sporting News, these questions are allowed under the leagues Excellence in Workplace Conduct policy but could be potentially illegal under state law and regular circumstance.
So although it’s not illegal within the confines of the NFL, it is still problematic and has raised several swift responses.
DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association said on Thursday that the team who asked about his sexuality should be banned from attending the combine.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy further confirmed the inappropriate nature of the sexual orientation question by stating that the league was looking into the matter, and a question such as that is completely inappropriate and wholly contrary to league workplace policies.
The league annually reminds clubs of these workplace policies that prohibit personnel from seeking information concerning a players sexual orientation, McCarthy continued in his statement.
Although all of this may be shocking, it isnt the first time that a prospect has been asked this vile question. In 2016, Falcons assistant coach Marquand Manuel asked Ohio State cornerback Eli Apple if he liked girls, a move that the Falcons organization instantly apologized for with head coach Dan Quinn by training their coaching staff with a league-approved counselor regarding social responsibility.
Now, we all get it, NFL teams aim to ask controversial questions to check the players temperature but, have they considered that the players, whether gay or not, will all respond saying that they are not gay? And ultimately, what does that have to do with football?
The NFL has never seen a consistently active and openly gay player appear in regular season games. The only example to go off of is Missouris Michael Sam, who came out prior to the 2014 NFL draft but was released by the Rams and relegated to the Cowboys practice squad.
But, do we really think the NFL has cultivated a space for anyone to be open? And with the lack of representation, we may not see an active gay player anytime soon. Could this question of sexual orientation be a way to select a player based on what gender they like? An opportunity to avoid potential social awareness and scrutiny that may come with having a potential openly gay player? Or was this simply the wrong question that was mistakenly used? Who knows, but at the end of the day, a persons sexual orientation shouldnt dictate their success nor be a question for the purpose of getting a response.
Whose purpose would it really serve at the end of the day?
