Prospect Derrius Guice claims that team officials at the NFL draft combine in Indianapolis asked him about his sexuality and whether his mother was a prostitute.
In an interview with SiriusXM Radio on Wednesday, Guice said that the team interviews were “pretty crazy… some people are really trying to get in your head and test your reaction.”
He continued, “I go in one room, and a team will ask me do I like men, just to see my reaction… 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?’”
In response, executive director of the NFL Players Association DeMaurice Smith told PFT Live: “Find out what team did it and ban them from the combine.
“The question is inappropriate. Questions along these lines are always inappropriate.”
In a statement to the Washington Post, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said, “A question such as that is completely inappropriate and wholly contrary to league workplace policies. The NFL and its clubs are committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees in a manner that is consistent with our commitment to diversity and inclusion, state and federal laws.
“The league annually reminds clubs of these workplace policies that prohibit personnel from seeking information concerning a player’s sexual orientation.”
The Human Rights Campaign’s director of public education and research, Ashland Johnson responded to the question as “absurd and inappropriate”. In reference to similar incidents in the past, he added “it’s clear that the NFL did not do enough to prevent it from happening again.”
The NFL seems likely to investigate the claims that team officials asked Guice about his sexual preferences. Jim Buzinski said that NFL officials “definitely have to identify the team and the coach… and they need some sort of punishment, at least a strong fine.”
