Dez Bryant’s 2012-13 rules for success:
1. Focus 100 percent on football.
2. No more “allegedly” assaulting mom.
3a. Stop doing stupid things.
3b. Grow up and stop being a distraction.
So maybe I paraphrased a little bit, but when I heard the set of rules Jerry Jones and the Cowboys gave the stellar, yet oft-troubled Dez Bryant, I couldn’t help but laugh.
No alcohol, no strip clubs, a midnight curfew, biweekly counseling sessions and a rotating three-man security team — read: baby-sitters — one of whom will be with Dez at all times. Basically, rules that would ruin any fraternity brother’s weekend.
To some observers these rules may seem unnecessary or unfair to impose on a 23-year-old man. But Bryant has shown time and again that he can’t handle the responsibility of being an adult. You would think that the $11.8 million contract he signed in 2010 would be enough of an incentive to avoid embarrassing himself and his team, but that is evidently not the case.
Bryant had a tumultuous upbringing, bouncing between homes after his mother was sent to jail for selling crack cocaine when Dez was 8 years old.
Growing up in a stable family in Northern Virginia, it would be inappropriate for me to claim to understand the unfortunate situation Dez grew up in. But it’s very hard to sympathize with the now multi-millionaire athlete who keeps making the wrong decisions.
There was the 2009 misstep, when he was kicked out of Oklahoma State for lying to NCAA investigators about his relationship with NFL legend Deion Sanders. Then, there was the 2011 incident in which he and his friends were kicked out of a Dallas shopping mall and given a criminal trespassing warning by off-duty police officers. Also in 2011, there were the multiple lawsuits over unpaid loans and jewelry debts totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.
This year, police detained him for a nightclub altercation in Miami with Lil Wayne and the rapper’s entourage. And, of course, there is the recent alleged assault against his mother, for which she later declined to file charges.
From just the alarming frequency of incidents, it’s clear that Dez keeps busy off the field. So when exactly does he find the time to actually play football? If a less talented player repeatedly got caught in these situations he would be cut in a flash, but because of Bryant’s potential it seems as if he never runs out of second chances.
Maybe some of the incidents were provoked or embellished by people looking to take advantage of Bryant. But the fact is he shouldn’t continually put himself in those situations. He needs to surround himself with a reliable support system.
And maybe that is what Bryant is doing now. After ESPN Dallas first reported that the rules were required by Jones, the Cowboys have said Bryant requested the guidance himself. The story sounds to me like it was made up just to quiet the negativity surrounding Bryant, but maybe he does truly want to change.
Obviously, Bryant isn’t the first troubled Dallas Cowboy to warrant some form of oversight because of questionable behavior — see: Michael Irvin and ‘Pacman’ Jones. Pacman still found a way to get in trouble while on Jerry Jones-mandated probation by assaulting his team-appointed bodyguard and earning a six-game suspension from the NFL, so Bryant’s rules are by no means the guaranteed end-all of his behavior problems.
More likely, these rules are a last resort to help protect the Cowboys’ investment in one of their biggest offensive playmakers, both from a punishment handed down by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and from Bryant himself. Bryant has become a walking liability and Jones is completely within his rights as an owner and general manager to demand better behavior from his star player.
Take one of the most epic sports-movie lines of all-time, coach Bill Yoast’s speech to Petey Jones in “Remember the Titans”:
“If you want to act like a star, you better give me a star effort.”
Right now, Bryant has to choose to either give his team a star effort to realize his vast potential or risk running out of chances.
There is nothing in his contract that forces him to comply with these rules, but Dez would be wise to before he derails his career or alienates himself from all his teammates who don’t unnecessarily draw media attention.
He need only look to the careers of Randy Moss, Terrell Owens or Chad Johnson to see what path he’s heading down. All were phenomenal, yet troubled receivers now closing in on retirement, who combine for a total of zero Super Bowl wins. Eventually, teams stop taking chances on players with attitude issues.
According to the NCAA, the odds of a high school senior football player making it to the NFL are around one in 1,250. Bryant has a gift that many people can only dream of: he was one of the few who made it. Not only was he lucky enough to be born with the potential to play NFL-caliber football, he was a first round draft pick and starter for the Dallas Cowboys. I’m in no way a Cowboys fan, but I can only dream of what it would be like to score a touchdown in front of more than 100,000 screaming fans at Cowboys Stadium.
I hope for Bryant’s sake that he learns from his past mistakes, but if history is any indication, the problem children of the NFL rarely change their ways. Now that the Cowboys organization has put its foot down, this may be Bryant’s last chance in Dallas.
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