Dez Bryant "Agrees" to Behavior Guidelines with Cowboys

[SethMode]

Oh, you mean the teams that currently employ a criminal, a drunk driver, a guy who failed the league's drug test, a guy who punched his girlfriend in the face, and an (alleged) multiple time rapist?

Gotcha.

That sounds like most of the memorable Cowboy rosters that I can think of.

[Rayman]

Did he have any other options though? Face possible suspension by the NFL if he and his team didn't come to some agreement? Have Garrett bury him on the depth chart?

I'll say it again, it's absurd for any team to have to do this for one player. There's not really another way to describe it.

What could the league suspend him for, though? I'm pretty sure if they punished him for not agreeing, that would be a direct violation of the CBA. (Although I suppose if that did happen and the NFLPA whined, Goodell would just smugly say that the NFLPA negotiated its' right to challenge any ruling the league made last year)

THe team is trying to protect its investment. His situation is just different, even by the low standards set by a lot of other "troubled" guys in the league. I think Michael Oher's situation growing up compares pretty close to it, but there was no rich white family to show up and save him, just the "family" that showed up when it started to become apparent that he could make some money.

There's no excuse for acting like an animal, no matter what environment you may have come from, but to his credit, he genuinely is trying to take the steps to better himself.

But let's stop pretending this guy is PacMan, Lawrence Taylor, Michael Irvin, Maurice Clarett, TO and Randy Moss all rolled into one. His transgessions to this point have been extremely minor (aside from throwing a 59/50 at his mother, of course). The issue is they pile up. He doesn't know how to act in public - that's the whole point of these "rules".

No, I mean the teams that have accounted for 8 of the last 11 Superbowls.

Proving that those teams' success has little to do with what their players are doing off the field.

That sounds like most of the memorable Cowboy rosters that I can think of.

Again, those teams won. Dallas has underachieved the past few years while being composed of a bunch of choirboys.

Character is overrated in this game.

[ralaw]

Or maybe they shouldnt have invested in him at all. They had just got rid of a player with character issues before bringing in Bryant. There is a reason teams like the Giants, Pats, Packers and Steelers are as successful as they are year in and year out while the Cowboys are nothing more than ESPN hype every season.

Cowboy hype goes far beyond ESPN. I don't have a problem with a team taking a troubled player, but teams should realize that the best way to deter them from doing anything stupid is to have strong leadership in the locker room.....the organizations you listed have an expectation and standard from within the players on the team.....this creates a sense of accountability on the players. The Cowboys have a weak locker room.

[BigBucs]

Yea, I was pretty much saying that without saying it. They have strong locker rooms because they dont deal with troubled players to begin with in addition to having head coaches that hold their players accountable and demand their respect. The Cowboys hasnt had any stability from a coaching standpoint for quite sometime, when they did bring in a no nosense head coach its still their owner/gm wanting to touch everything. He wants to be a star himself.

As for the hype coming from more than ESPN, believe me, I know. Just as many Cowboy fans in the DC metro are as there are Redskin fans.

[Acesuper]

Wow, Dez fucking HAM.

[Guest]

These rules may be a good thing. Now, he can concentrate on just football.

[ram29jackson]

its the next best thing to parole

[Rayman]

Yea, I was pretty much saying that without saying it. They have strong locker rooms because they dont deal with troubled players to begin with in addition to having head coaches that hold their players accountable and demand their respect. The Cowboys hasnt had any stability from a coaching standpoint for quite sometime, when they did bring in a no nosense head coach its still their owner/gm wanting to touch everything. He wants to be a star himself.

As for the hype coming from more than ESPN, believe me, I know. Just as many Cowboy fans in the DC metro are as there are Redskin fans.

I believe they have that guy now, but that's another topic for another day.