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11:51 PM CDT on Monday, July 26, 2010
Column by TIM COWLISHAW / The Dallas Morning News | wtcowlishaw@dallasnews.com
Tim Cowlishaw
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SAN ANTONIO – As controversies go, this is not much of one. This isn't secret meetings in which the wide receiver accuses the quarterback of favoring the tight end.
And as wide receivers go, for those historically inclined, this isn't Tony and Butch fighting to win favor with Drew.
But it's the Cowboys and, as coach Wade Phillips pointed out, "It's not just because we're the Dallas Cowboys. We're the only training camp going on."
And so a story of national significance continued to unfold here in the Alamodome where rookie Dez Bryant, who had refused to carry Roy Williams' pads Sunday, ran off the field without doing interviews Monday.
After the first three practices, Bryant had been the most accommodating of interview subjects, staying 20, even 30 minutes to talk and talk and talk.
But once his reluctance to go along with a fairly obscure part of Cowboys' tradition became public knowledge, Bryant chose to run from the story. He could have put it to rest by carrying Williams' pads Monday and joking about it.
Why the Cowboys public relations department didn't make that happen is beyond me. But perhaps Bryant refused to go along with their suggestions as well.
I don't think any of this means a thing once Bryant starts catching passes against Washington on Sept. 13. At the same time, you have to begin to wonder if the Cowboys' first-round pick is one of those guys who just can't steer clear of trouble everywhere he goes.
Even the minor kind such as this.
First came the suspension from Oklahoma State followed by his slide in the draft. Then came the stories of his revealing his father to be a pimp in pre-draft talks which led to comments about his mother followed by stories of her arrest charges.
Now it has come out that Bryant already lost an endorsement deal with Under Armour. Rather odd since he hasn't played a single NFL down and also because every football review of Bryant has been filled with praise.
Phillips spoke briefly to Bryant at the start of practice Monday but he didn't say what it was about. Phillips did say that he thinks hazing * even something as seemingly insignificant as carrying pads * has no place with the Cowboys.
"Rookies can play. I treat them the same as the rest of the players," Phillips said. "I don't believe you need to initiate anybody. It's not part of building a team."
Beyond that, there was a definite element of glee in Williams telling Bryant to carry his pads. This wasn't Miles Austin or Jason Witten or any of the other more decorated Cowboys trying to put a first-round pick through his paces.
This was Williams, the hugely disappointing receiver who has been and continues to be paid far beyond his value, trying to humiliate (even in a small way) the man who almost certainly stands to take his starting job this season.
And Williams could have put the story to rest Sunday afternoon when asked about it. Instead, he talked of what might come next for Bryant now that he had taken this rarely discussed tradition to the next level by refusing.
Pardon me if I agree with Phillips that the whole thing is silly.
"Any time you make someone uncomfortable it's not right," he said.
There have been other Cowboys who refused to sing alma maters as rookies in the dining hall. More tales come from other sports.
As a Cincinnati Reds rookie, Josh Hamilton declined to participate in a team tradition in which rookies were supposed to carry beer to the team charters.
It's hard to imagine that Bryant has a reason for not carrying pads that is as compelling as Hamilton's reluctance, as a recovering alcoholic, to distribute beer to teammates.
But if Bryant's one of the first players on the practice field most days, doing all he can to show he never should have fallen all the way to the 24th pick of the first round, is there anything else that really matters?
Column by TIM COWLISHAW / The Dallas Morning News | wtcowlishaw@dallasnews.com
Tim Cowlishaw
Archive | Blog | E-mail
SAN ANTONIO – As controversies go, this is not much of one. This isn't secret meetings in which the wide receiver accuses the quarterback of favoring the tight end.
And as wide receivers go, for those historically inclined, this isn't Tony and Butch fighting to win favor with Drew.
But it's the Cowboys and, as coach Wade Phillips pointed out, "It's not just because we're the Dallas Cowboys. We're the only training camp going on."
And so a story of national significance continued to unfold here in the Alamodome where rookie Dez Bryant, who had refused to carry Roy Williams' pads Sunday, ran off the field without doing interviews Monday.
After the first three practices, Bryant had been the most accommodating of interview subjects, staying 20, even 30 minutes to talk and talk and talk.
But once his reluctance to go along with a fairly obscure part of Cowboys' tradition became public knowledge, Bryant chose to run from the story. He could have put it to rest by carrying Williams' pads Monday and joking about it.
Why the Cowboys public relations department didn't make that happen is beyond me. But perhaps Bryant refused to go along with their suggestions as well.
I don't think any of this means a thing once Bryant starts catching passes against Washington on Sept. 13. At the same time, you have to begin to wonder if the Cowboys' first-round pick is one of those guys who just can't steer clear of trouble everywhere he goes.
Even the minor kind such as this.
First came the suspension from Oklahoma State followed by his slide in the draft. Then came the stories of his revealing his father to be a pimp in pre-draft talks which led to comments about his mother followed by stories of her arrest charges.
Now it has come out that Bryant already lost an endorsement deal with Under Armour. Rather odd since he hasn't played a single NFL down and also because every football review of Bryant has been filled with praise.
Phillips spoke briefly to Bryant at the start of practice Monday but he didn't say what it was about. Phillips did say that he thinks hazing * even something as seemingly insignificant as carrying pads * has no place with the Cowboys.
"Rookies can play. I treat them the same as the rest of the players," Phillips said. "I don't believe you need to initiate anybody. It's not part of building a team."
Beyond that, there was a definite element of glee in Williams telling Bryant to carry his pads. This wasn't Miles Austin or Jason Witten or any of the other more decorated Cowboys trying to put a first-round pick through his paces.
This was Williams, the hugely disappointing receiver who has been and continues to be paid far beyond his value, trying to humiliate (even in a small way) the man who almost certainly stands to take his starting job this season.
And Williams could have put the story to rest Sunday afternoon when asked about it. Instead, he talked of what might come next for Bryant now that he had taken this rarely discussed tradition to the next level by refusing.
Pardon me if I agree with Phillips that the whole thing is silly.
"Any time you make someone uncomfortable it's not right," he said.
There have been other Cowboys who refused to sing alma maters as rookies in the dining hall. More tales come from other sports.
As a Cincinnati Reds rookie, Josh Hamilton declined to participate in a team tradition in which rookies were supposed to carry beer to the team charters.
It's hard to imagine that Bryant has a reason for not carrying pads that is as compelling as Hamilton's reluctance, as a recovering alcoholic, to distribute beer to teammates.
But if Bryant's one of the first players on the practice field most days, doing all he can to show he never should have fallen all the way to the 24th pick of the first round, is there anything else that really matters?