Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant addressed several lingering questions surrounding him as he heads into the NFL draft.
AP
Dez Bryant is fed up with being criticized.
During an extensive interview with Yahoo! Sports, Bryant got a few things off his chest.
“This is supposed to be a great moment for me,” Bryant said. “Trust me, it’s not. But I try to stay positive for my mom and my younger brother and sister. I don’t want to ruin it for them.”
Bryant said during a visit with an NFL team, he was asked if his mother, who's a convicted drug dealer, is a prostitute.
“They asked me if my mom’s a prostitute,” Bryant said. “No, my mom is not a prostitute. I got mad, really mad, but I didn’t show it. I got a lot of questions like that: Does she still do drugs? I sat and answered all of them.”
Bryant seemed miffed that he's not going to be in New York for the draft tonight.
“I’m not in New York because of what’s been said about me, pure and simple,” Bryant said. “That’s got to be it, and that’s ridiculous, man. But it’s good; I’m fine. I’m not taking anything away from anyone in the draft, but I don’t think anybody wants it more than me. When I get drafted, I’ll hug some people and celebrate for a minute – but then I’m going to go to work.”
Bryant, who has hired David Wells as a life skills coach, addressed reports that he's been late for everything with even Deion Sanders noting that his protege has "got to have a better regard for time. He needs a Flavor Flav clock around his neck. That’s what he needs.”
Bryant said he was never late for a game.
“That is impossible,” Bryant said. “They said I was 30 minutes late to a game! I guarantee whoever said that has never been to a game at Oklahoma State, cause if you look at the big screen, I’m the first person to run out on the field.”
He also addressed a report that he forgot his cleats for his Pro Day workout.
“The thing is, I didn’t forget my cleats,” Bryant said. “I had a bag with me, and there were six pairs of cleats in that bag. I just didn’t have the cleats for one drill. It wasn’t the 40; it was the shuttle [drill].”
As for a report that he acted like a diva during his visit with the St. Louis Rams, Bryant said that wasn't the case.
“I wouldn’t eat; that’s the real reason," Bryant said. "I was coming in from San Francisco and had eaten before I got on the plane. They kept asking me over and over and over, ‘You sure you don’t want to eat?’ I went to the [cafeteria] tables and talked to the people there. I just wasn’t hungry. Trust me, I’m not a diva. I’m too rough to be a diva. I hate the word, man.
"There’s nothing diva about me I was only there about 45 minutes, and then they sent me on my way. What gets me is, go ask all the other teams who interviewed me – ask them who Dez Bryant really is. Ask Miami, Denver and Dallas. Ask ‘em how quick did I learn their offense – it was kind of ‘amazing,’ the way they put it. The Rams didn’t take the time to see who I was. I was willing to tell them how I’ve changed, how I’ve matured. Once I get drafted, people will see that. I’ll get my image back.”
