The draft gets more absurd ?

As reported on SI.com :

One NFL coach admits to some level of concern over TCU QB Andy Dalton's red hair color.
"Has there ever been a red-headed quarterback in the NFL who's really done well?" the coach asked. "It sounds idiotic, but is there any way that could be a factor? We've wondered."

As SI's Peter King points out, Boomer Esiason visited no teams and had just one team work him out before being chosen in the second round of the 1984 draft.

Fast forward two-and-half decades, and even Dalton's hair color is under scrutiny as draft season reaches new heights of absurdity.

 

I am half-expecting the interview process to include the following: "Is it true that you don't have a soul?"

It's true there is a lot of money on the line but FBI/CIA job application pseudo-psychological questioning is a little over-the-top.

I found these interesting questions from previous drafts:

Bills rookie linebacker Arthur Moats recalled an unexpected query at the NFL Scouting Combine.

“It was a guy from the Redskins,” Moats said. “He asked me, “Should we draft you and you’re sitting around in a room and Brian Orakpo comes to you and says, “You’re in my seat.’ Are you going to get up and move or are you going to fight him for the chair?’

“I’m like, “It’s a chair. I’m just going to slide over,’ and he said, “So you’re a punk.’ I’m thinking, “What? I’m going to fight over a chair? And if I move I’m a punk?’ The guy was serious, too.”

Added Moats: “I answered, “How is [Orakpo] addressing me? Is he yelling or something?’ I guess it depends on how he asked. That was crazy. I didn’t know they asked questions like that.”

Cincinnati Bengals fourth-round pick Geno Atkins said one team -- he couldn't recall which -- asked him about his sexual orientation.

"The only unusual question I got was if I was straight or gay," said Atkins, a Georgia defensive tackle whose father, Gene, played 10 seasons in the NFL. "And that was about it.

"'McDonald's or Burger King?' I think 'pillow or blanket?' was another one," Atkins added. "Those were the strange, unusual ones I got. I was like, 'What does that have to do with football?' I think they were kind of trying to loosen me up a little bit."

Or tighten him up. The interviews are designed to test a young player's demeanor, as much as a 40-yard dash is used to measure his speed. So potential draft picks must be prepared for outlandish questions, even if they never get them.

They also must be ready to get baited.

"Some of the interviews were different," said Dallas Cowboys second-round selection Sean Lee, a linebacker from Penn State. "Like I had one team that really came and criticized me and the school I was at, and they're really trying to just get you fired up. They're really just using different tactics to try to see you face adversity, how you react to somebody getting on you.

"That was probably the most unusual thing I had, somebody came at me and said, 'I've never seen a guy from Penn State make plays.' Really, you just have to keep your cool and come back with passionate but respectful answers."

The process includes more than a quick question-and-answer session. Players undergo all kinds of mental and psychological tests, too. They might meet with 12 members of an NFL team, from scouts to coaches to the general manager -- perhaps even the owner in the cases of the Cowboys and New York Jets, for example.

Teams also send along a packet of questions for players to answer. That might lack the personal touch but can be effective in its own right.

The packets are where the dog versus cat question often comes up. Generally, those questions are within the bounds of good taste.

"No, no. I didn't get any of that. That would be a whole entire different level," Lee said. "That'd be a lot tougher to deal with."

Mississippi running back Dexter McCluster, a second-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs, did have one team go "American Idol" on him.

"One coach asked me to sing," McCluster said.

Race was very much on the mind of some NFL teams when assessing Toby Gerhart.

“One team I interviewed with asked me about being a white running back,” Gerhart says. “They asked if it made me feel entitled, or like I felt I was a poster child for white running backs. I said, ‘No, I’m just out there playing ball. I don’t think about that.’ I didn’t really know what to say.”

Castonzo got a kick out of one team's line of questioning, which likely gets fired toward every athlete who participates in the most famous pre-draft event.

"The one that was funny to me was when they asked me, 'Do you smoke pot?'" Castonzo said. "I was like, 'No.' They were like, 'What's your favorite time of day to smoke pot?' I'm like, 'I told you I don't smoke pot.' They're like, 'When was the last time you smoked pot?' Then I'm like, 'I told you I don't smoke pot.' Then they're like, 'But cocaine is your drug, huh?' And I actually started laughing, so they're like, 'What do you do? You do heroin? You've got to do something.' They were just throwing questions at me left and right. I was just cracking up actually. It was kind of funny."