Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland, Dez Bryant, And The Revelation Of Context (UPDATED: And Social Disorganization Theory

I think we all know the story of Jeff Ireland and Dez Bryant by now. For those that have been living under a rock, it is being reported that in an interview with now Cowboys WR Dez Bryant, Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland asked Dez whether or not Dez's mom was a prostitute. Ireland has since apologized and the issue has seemingly been brushed under the rug, but what if there was more to it than just that? To everyone sitting on their ass now thinking that this story is nothing but the world's dumbest football interview question, I can tell you right now, you haven't the faintest idea what you are talking about. And by the end of this post, you will be sorry for saying anything you said negatively about Miami Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland.

It's about the media and people protecting Dez Bryant. In other words, this is not a story about a dumb interviewer, it's about the absence of context and now the revelation.

It started with an interview Marcellus Wiley did for ESPNEWS, and continued in a long string of tweets from Wiley. The initial question by Ireland was manufactured by Mike Silver at Yahoo! and Brooks of SbB. A recent stream of tweets from Marcellus Wiley further teased the truth.

I actually do! RT @pigskinpundit @marcelluswiley Do you know yourself the exact context in which that question is asked? I'm struggling to C

BINGO! RT @Kaleem88 @marcelluswiley I don't think Jeff was in the wrong, I think he worded the question wrong

Big Biz PR! RT @raromero07 then why hasnt Ireland come w/ the rest of the story yet to clear his name? why apologize if there was more 2 it

Bcuz Dez knows the TRUTH & CONTEXT of the ?'s RT @ronwahl Dez is not making a big deal of this-why is everyone else going berserk over it

I'm not the only person that knows the entire story, but every1 is trying to protect Dez. That's why it's not out YET!

Out of respect, another trying to protect Dez RT @nickborrelli Why didn't Ireland tell the public what the context was when he apologized?

Every1 reacted (understandably so) with emotion to this story, diminishing the cognitive thought process. Sit back & think w/o emotion.....

.and the truth and the context of the question will start to crystallize. Their is a justifiable reason why someone asked him that question

I know this is sensitive stuff...and trust me, I get that. But sometimes in life, you have to deal with real, despite how painful it is!

And now the money tweets. The moment when you will no longer make fun of Jeff Ireland and heck, the moment you will apologize to Jeff Ireland. You think I am kidding? The line of questioning by Ireland was perfectly rational though just poorly worded. You will soon see that.

First, a follower of Wiley hitting the nail right on the head:

BINGO! RT @RealCedAllen Takin a guess but never heard ANYTHING bout Dez's pops! Is it that he was once a pimp? That would give reason 2 ask.

And a (presumably condensed) version of the transcript in 140 characters from (of all things) the Dan LeBatard Show Twitter account.

Here's dolphins side: what does dad do? Pimp. Mom? Works for dad. She's a prostitute? No she helps him with other stuff.

All of a sudden does this all make sense?

People everywhere want to protect Dez Bryant. But when you admit in an interview in response to the standard question of what your father does for a living (I've been on both sides of interviews, family background is standard stuff here, folks) and you answer "pimp," is asking if the mother is a prostitute not a reasonable follow-up. Could it have been worded better? Sure, Ireland could have worded it better, but Dez set himself up for that. After all, does a pimp not often find themselves with prostitues? Asking that as a follow-up is not reaching far. And even Silver did not lead with that quote in his story on Dez where he first brought it up. Aside from that one quote buried, why else did Dez Bryant not make this a huge story? Because he knew the context. And why were people so afraid to admit this context? Because people wanted to protect Dez Bryant from the word getting out to the public that he admitted in an interview that his father was a pimp. You think the Dolphins are going to reveal the context and throw Dez under the bus like that? Hell no, they are not. They did the right thing by not speaking up or saying anything. You do not throw a kid under the bus, but a certain Mike Silver could be one to ask, "okay, Dez, why would they ask if your mother was a prostitute?" And then when he found out the perfectly rational context of the whole story then just drop it and not print it and lead to a whole controversy.

Of course, the context will never get out to the public like the original story did, so a lot of people will go on thinking that Jeff Ireland is an incompetent jackass who with no justification at all asked a kid who survived a tough childhood if his mother was a prostitute. I just hope more people learn the truth about what happened behind close doors and do not judge a man and his beliefs based off of that.

Update: Mike Silver apparently just spoke to a source close to Dez who says the Dolphins story is bullshit. That source cites the apology as the main reason the Dolphins story can't be true. This has already been well covered above, but I shall elaborate further in that how many times have you apologized just to move on from an awkward situation, even if you were not at fault just to get away from it all, end the madness, take the hit and move on with more important things.

Instead of re-stating what he says, I will quote Dan Levy from the Sporting Blog, who brings up a very interesting and valid point that even if the Dolphins are lying and this was a random, out-of-the-blue question that contrary to belief, asking Dez Bryant about his mother like that is nowhere near as bad as everyone makes it out to be, and in fact, a rather smart interview question, if worded a lot better.

It's actually quite amazing to me how much fervor this has created, making me feel like a bit of a sociopath for thinking the question was tactless, but fair to ask a guy you're potentially going to give millions of dollars to. In addition, hearing the team's explanation, it was clearly germane for Ireland to ask that question in that context. By all accounts, the question may have been disrespectful, but it seems that Bryant opened the door.

And while were on it, I just don't see how sending private investigators to research a prospect's background – something the league and teams regularly do – is okay, but asking a kid a question like this about his mom is off limits. Michael Vick was adamant about the fact that he didn't think dog fighting was all that bad because he was raised in an environment where the practice was commonplace. So shouldn't teams be doing their research as to what type of criminality a prospect is exposed? My wife, a PhD in Criminal Justice, went back and forth with me on this:

"Social Disorganization Theory says any exposure to that sort of criminal life can make you more likely to do it. Social Bond Theory says that, in essence, subjects form bonds with people and – to put it a way sports fans can understand – being around people who do bad things does make someone more likely to do bad things themselves.

"Having said that, there are many criminological theories that suggest that free will is more important than socialization."

In other words, people should be able to decide right from wrong on their own, but there are theories that indicate being exposed to a life full of bad decisions could lead to bad decisions. With millions of dollars at stake, it's amazing if more people didn't ask the questions Ireland did…albeit with a little more tact.

Now I had never heard of Social Disorganization Theory before this, but I've looked it up. It exists. What Levy's wife says about it is true. So while on the outset if may not seem that asking about a guy's mother in a football interview, regardless of context, is completely irrelevant, if you are thinking about possibly committing millions of dollars to the guy, don't you think you would like to know a little more about his chances of getting into trouble? He may have stayed out of trouble before, but that does not mean anything about the future. You may think the kid is a good kid, but you never know for sure.

Regardless of whose side of the story turns out to be correct (and we'll never know for sure until we see the transcript), why does any of this matter? While I initially let my emotions guide me in my thoughts of Ireland, it has become quite clear that whether out of the blue or in a germane context, knowing that a person you are potentially paying millions of dollars to had a rough childhood with a mother who is only 15 years older than him and asking about that is not offensive, is not insensitive, is perfectly relevant (especially if you consider Social Disorganization Theory and Social Bond Theory), and should even be done more often. It's like Levy said, you hire private investigators to investigate and research every aspect of these kids private lives. Then something like this poorly-worded, well-intentioned interview question comes out and all of a sudden the outcry against Ireland and the Dolphins is on the levels of political scandal??????

What the fuck?