Questioning the questioners

Remember a few days back, when the Blob talked about what a bizarre alternate universe the NFL combine is, with draft prospects getting asked weird questions about their mothers and whether or not they like boys?

Well. Apparently NFL GMs still have their homophobia/mommy issues.

This upon the news that Derrius Guice, a running back out of LSU, said he was asked those very same questions during his interview process, almost word-for-word. "Do you like boys?" was one question. "We hear your mother sells herself. How do you feel about that?" was another.

The Blob not being a candidate to make millions as an NFL player, its suggested response to the latter question would be "I don't know. How would you feel about it if I leaped over this table and punched you in the face?" Or, maybe, "Well, I feel better about it knowing your mom is out there with her."

Personally, I'd have marked it as a point in the kid's favor if he had said either of those things. Shows, you know, spunk.

Presumably neither Guice nor any other prospect responded in that manner, because the combine is all about seeing how you handle stressful situations, and asking deliberately provocative questions is part of that process. They want to see if you'll react. If you don't even bat an eye, this is presumably a point in your favor.

(Which I find curious, considering they're applying for a job in one of the most violent occupations in the world. Passiveness in the face of extreme provocation would not seem to be an upside. But what do I know. I'm fairly normal on most days.)

NFL GMs get away with this sort of thing because they know they hold these young men's futures in their hands, and so they know the young men can't fight back. But the Blob wonders exactly how they get away with it in spite of that.

Here's the thing: I may be completely wrong about this, but I believe there are some strict legal guidelines that govern job interviews (and that's what these are, essentially.) Among the things they would prohibit, it would seem, are questions about a candidate's sexual orientation, or ones that constitute personal insults -- the very sort of questions NFL GMs are asking. Assuming I'm correct, does the NFL have some sort of exemption from the law?

Or maybe it's just no one has sued them yet, given that anyone who does would be blowing up his NFL career before it even started. But maybe that needs to happen.

Because this is wrong. It's just flat outright wrong.