Matt Millen: It's fine to ask if mommy was a hooker

Miami Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland has taken a beating in the media this week -- and rightfully so -- because word got out that he asked potential draftee Dez Bryant if his mother was a prostitute.

Pretty much everyone has agreed that the question was out of line, including Ireland himself, who called it "poor judgment" and apologized. So now we can put this whole thing behind us and move -- wait, what's that you say? Personnel evaluator extraordinaire Matt Millen has an opinion to share? Well, by all means!

From The Huddle:

Former Detroit Lions president Matt Millen added a new wrinkle to the Jeff Ireland-Dez Bryant controversy on Thursday when he said on ESPN's SportsCenter that "there are no questions that are out of bounds" in an NFL rookie interview.

Millen, now an ESPN analyst, said such questions are not abnormal during interviews with rookie prospects. "We're making a big deal out of something that's probably not that big a deal," he said.

The former Lions president also acknowledged that he may have asked similar questions when he was interviewing draft prospects.

I've defended Millen as an analyst in the past, but I'm sort of feeling like an idiot for that right now. There's nothing out of bounds? Nothing at all? That's insane. It's a job interview, not a rap battle in "8 Mile."

And really, if this is something Matt Millen did regularly ... isn't that enough to convince everyone that it was probably a bad idea?

As a GM, Millen was willing to probe that deep. He was willing to ask guys things like, "So, your mother, I'm sure she's a lovely woman, but did she ever, you know ... do something strange for a little piece of change?"

And look at his draft record. You honestly could've done just as well by picking random names out of a phone book. Lot of good his questions did him.

You know what question wouldn't have been out of bounds? Asking Charles Rogers if he planned to smoke marijuana every day. Maybe you should've started there, draft wizard.

Of course, this is the same guy who used the ugliest homosexual slur in existence at one of his former players, and then slurred Polish people on draft weekend (and then, in his apology, passed the blame onto people who "misconstrued" the slur). I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that Millen thinks there's nothing out of bounds in a pre-draft interview.

Related: Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins, NFL Draft, People Not Doing a Great Job

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Ask an NFL'er: The Gulf Coast oil spill

By MJD

A massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is spreading out of control and could become an even worse environmental disaster than the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989. Your thoughts, NFL person?

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Agonizing Favre process now dependent on ankle surgery

Now that the draft is over and the long offseason walk begins, it's time to dust off the underground shelter and break out the canned goods -- it is most certainly time for yet another Favreapalooza/Favrewatch/"Oh my God, please make it stop" event.

ESPN's Ed Werder broke the news this morning that Brett Favre will need ankle surgery if he wants to play in 2010. That according to Dr. James Andrews, the physician of choice for most football players, in regard to the ankle Favre injured in the Vikings' NFC Championship loss to the New Orleans Saints.

Of course, we've been through this before. Last season, Favre needed surgery on his throwing shoulder before he could enter what has become a very special decision-making time for him -- a time that generally involves an insane degree of media overkill, press conferences announcing absolutely nothing and summers in which diehard football fans who would prefer other types of NFL news go hungry. That said, Favre did have one of his best seasons for the Vikings in 2009, and most people assume that he'll be back to try for another shot at the Super Bowl.

Favre, in an e-mail to ESPN, had this to say:

"To play again, I would need the surgery, as I suspected. This decision would be easy if not for my teammates and the fans and the entire Vikings staff. One year truly felt like 10 -- much like Green Bay for many years. That's what I was missing in my heart I suppose, a sense of belonging.''

There it is, America -- you're on the clock again. The slow news season, the constant updates, the needless speculation, Ed Werder and Scott Hansen camped out on a Kiln, Mississippi driveway for two months ... you can "look forward" to all of it. Favre will turn 41 on October 10, and it will most likely be August before we actually know what he'll do. As for me, I'm off to the Shutdown Corner Underground Bunker. Someone please flip me a message when the man has made up his mind.

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Santonio Holmes refuses to turn off iPod during flight

It didn't take long for Santonio Holmes to sully up his "clean start" in New York. The new Jets wide receiver was written up in a flight incident report Thursday night after he refused to turn off his iPod during a descent into Pittsburgh.

Holmes, who was traded from the Steelers to the Jets last month and vowed to leave his troubled past behind, was not charged in the incident.

It was reported earlier in the day that the former Super Bowl MVP had been removed from the flight, but a statement from Allegheny County Police contradicted those reports and stated Holmes was merely reminded by police officers to comply with flight regulations.

Jets coach Rex Ryan said the incident had been overblown in media outlets. "I mean, OK, let's face it, he should turn off his iPod," Ryan said. "That's what he should do. I mean, he should do that. I haven't had a chance to talk to Santonio, but he certainly should do that."

After reading that quote, I'm sort of confused as to what Ryan thinks Santonio should do. I wish he had clarified.

There's some truth to the statement that this has been overblown a bit, but if you're Santonio Holmes you can't afford to get involved in petty disturbances like not turning off an iPod for a 10-minute descent. Holmes will be serving a four-game drug suspension at the beginning of the year, he's been held out from one game for having marijuana detected in his car, he's been sued by a woman for throwing a drink at her at a club, he was involved a domestic violence incident and he's been accused of making vague threats on Twitter. Is risking arrest to listen to a few more songs before leaving the plane really worth it? I don't care if one of those tracks was that new Eminem song dissing Holmes' ex-teammate Ben Roethlisberger, the answer is clearly no. 

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The Saints are accused of some very non-Saintly things

In one of the weirdest offseason stories I can recall, the New Orleans Saints might be in a little trouble with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

The dude behind it all is Geoffrey Santini, a retired FBI agent who then worked as the Saints security director. Santini filed a civil lawsuit against the Saints, alleging that they tried to cover up for a "senior staff member" who thieved some Vicodin.

Apart from the civil suit, the DEA also caught wind of these allegations and is now looking into it. At the moment, it's not a criminal investigation, but it could eventually get there.

So who's accused of doing what?

Well, the civil complaint claims that there's surveillance video of the "senior staff member" -- believed to be Joe Vitt, the Saints linebackers coach who also was briefly the head coach of the St. Louis Rams -- using a trainer's key to lift some Vicodin from the team's drug locker.

The civil complaint also says that Sean Payton, the Saints head coach, was "permitted to take a large enough amount of Vicodin from the team's drug locker to constitute abuse."

Now, Santini says he was ordered to keep this whole thing covered up, and that two trainers were ordered to doctor the log books and make it look like all the Vicodin was present and accounted for. He says that's why he resigned, and he wants damages and back pay.

The other side of the story?

Well, Sean Payton released a brief statement saying he's never abused or stolen Vicodin. Joe Vitt's said nothing, as of yet.

The other other side of the story? Well, Pro Football Talk reports from "multiple sources" that, before filing the civil suit, Santini asked the Saints to give him $2 million. Is this a story of an unhappy employee trying to squeeze some money from his employer? Who knows?

The surveillance video will be the compelling thing, along with any other proof Santini might be able to produce in regards to Payton or anyone else going along with a cover-up.

Right now, it's all just weird. The head coach of the reigning Super Bowl champions being involved in abuse of prescription narcotics, theft or a cover-up ... that's a story I think the media might be interested in. Spending $2 million to keep this out of headlines might not have been the worst idea in the world.

Related: New Orleans Saints, St. Louis Rams, NFL Criminal Behavior

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The Browns turn to YouTube to find able-bodied football players

By MJD

I don't know if the Browns have a guy whose job it is to sit around all day and watch YouTube videos while thinking, "Please, for the love of everything holy, let me find someone on YouTube today who might actually be able to play football." They might. It would kind of make sense.

If that guy does exist, he's doing a really good job.

He found a fellow named Joel Reinders, a strapping, 6'7", 320-lb. Canadian gent with a handlebar mustache who happens to play a little offensive tackle.

Based on that video alone, the Browns gave Reinders a call and signed him as an undrafted free agent. You know who the Browns didn't call and sign as an undrafted free agent? The guy Reinders blocks in the very first highlight.

When I said that that Reinders played a little offensive tackle, I probably should've emphasized the "little" part -- he's played exactly eight organized football games in his life.

He grew up playing hockey, as is his duty as a Canadian citizen. Being 6'7", he eventually took up basketball, and though he did play for two years at the University of Waterloo, he never truly embraced the sport. But he talked to the football coach, and the coach liked the fact that he was 6'7", and he set about teaching him to play some o-line.

Obviously, he's what teams call a "project" -- someone who's got the physical tools but likely needs a couple more years of learning before he can contribute. But Reinder obviously has the size, and there's some ability there. For a highlight reel put together in the first eight football games of a man's life, I'd say it's quite impressive. It really is an incredible story for the guy, even if it doesn't go past this. I'd love to see him make the team.

And congratulations to the Browns organization, particularly the Scouting/YouTube Perusal Department. All those endless days of wading through keyboard cat and other video oddities finally paid off.

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Michael Irvin talks with Dez Bryant about responsibility

Tax tips from Wesley Snipes, hair care advice from Donald Trump and career-planning management courtesy Lindsay Lohan are a few of the things I'd value more than a talk with Michael Irvin about how to be a responsible football player. This is the guy who once slashed a teammate's neck with scissors and was the subject of this excerpt from the Aug. 5, 1996 issue of Sports Illustrated:

On the night of March 3 Michael Irvin was caught in a Dallas hotel room with 60 grams of cocaine, about three ounces of marijuana, two topless dancers and an array of sex toys; he pleaded no contest to a felony charge of cocaine possession; he and several of his party-boy teammates were found to have frequented the infamous White House, rented by several Dallas Cowboys players and used as a haven for extramarital liaisons; he flouted the law in Texas by ignoring a grand jury summons until the Dallas County DA threatened to arrest him; and he shrugged off inquiries by NFL officials about the incident, defiantly proclaiming that he "definitely" didn't have a substance abuse problem.

Yet there was Irvin this weekend preaching to newest Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant about the responsibilities of wearing the hallowed No. 88 in Dallas. (A number worn by Irvin and Drew Pearson, among others.) The Hall of Famer met with Bryant in front of cameras for about five minutes to give him some words of encouragement after his first practice sessions with the team. Said Irvin:

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