It's officially the time of year when rumors, leaks and speculation about NFL draft prospects are at a high. At least one front office executive has heard all the gossip he can stomach.
Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert isn't a fan of leaking information on prospects and told reporters Monday that he feels it's disrespectful.
"I think it's horrible," Colbert said. "I think it's really bad for our profession when people use whatever means they use to get information out to try to influence the draft and they talk about a kid's test score, a kid's injury, a kid's character. I think that's awful. It's disrespectful to our profession, it's disrespectful to the game, it's disrespectful to the kid."
Colbert said the Steelers try to block out the noise as best they can.
"And knowing that we really don't pay attention to it. We don't believe in mock drafts and what people are saying about other teams because so much of it is misinformation," he said. "You'd just lose your mind trying to figure out what everyone's going to do. We're going to be true to what we do and feel good about it and live with it."
When someone like Nebraska linebacker Randy Gregory fails a drug test, many view it as a major detriment to the player's draft stock. That's not always the case, though, said Colbert.
"We're going to find out as much as we can about a person that's had some type of issue," he said. "You sort out what's real and what's rumor. If you figure out what's real, then you figure out whether you can deal with it and whether you want to deal with it, and that's what we'll try to do. You just can't take the public part of it and say this is it.
"It's our job to get to the root of the matter."