A person's sexuality shouldn't be anyone else's business but their own, yet some in the NFL haven't learned that lesson yet. On Wednesday night, former LSU Tigers running back Derrius Guice told SiriusXM NFL Radio that a particular team asked him if he liked men at the NFL Scouting Combine, according to Pro Football Talk.Â
“It was pretty crazy. Some people are really trying to get in your head and test your reaction... I go in one room, and a team will ask me do I like men, just to see my reaction, Guice said. "I go in another room, they’ll 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?’"
As of now, it hasn't been revealed which NFL team presented the question during the interview. Guice announced in January that he'll be leaving LSU to head to the 2018 NFL Draft. Prodding the 20-year-old about his sexuality is just another addition to the NFL's long history of asking distasteful questions. Two years ago, current New York Giants cornerback Eli Apple got hit with the same inquiry as Guice by one of the Atlanta Falcons coaches. "The Falcons coach, one of the coaches, was like, 'So do you like men?' It was like the first thing he asked me. It was weird. I was just like, 'no,'" Apple said at the time. "He was like, 'if you're going to come to Atlanta, sometimes that's how it is around here, you're going to have to get used to it.'"
According to ESPN, the NFL also conducted an investigation in 2013 after three draft prospects revealed they were asked questions about their sexual orientation. The league said in a statement:
"Teams are expected to follow applicable federal, state and local employment laws... It is league policy to neither consider nor inquire about sexual orientation in the hiring process. In addition, there are specific protections in our collective bargaining agreement with the players that prohibit discrimination against any player, including on the basis of sexual orientation. Any team or employee that inquires about impermissible subjects or makes an employment decision based on such factors is subject to league discipline."
And in 2010, Dallas Cowboys' wide receiver Dez Bryant (who played for Oklahoma State at the time), was asked by Miami Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland if his mother was a prostitute. Ireland later apologized for his comment.
The NFL clearly has an anti-discrimination policy set in place for a reason, but it means nothing if they continue to violate the rules along with draft players' privacy.
