Dez Bryant Refuses To Carry Roy Williams' Shoulder Pads at Practice.

[wwharton]

Quote: Originally Posted by blackceasar

Whats funny is, I live in Dallas and everyone in the office (die hard cowboy fans) are backing Dez on this. You guys say that hazing is just part of the NFL... and coaches and owners have admitted that you cant treat every NFL player the same... so okay, rookie gets hazed..fine.. but at the same time not every vet has business doing the hazing. As far as his teammates taking issue with it... what if... just what if you fastforward..... its the Superbowl.. Dallas is playing in Dallas... Dez Bryant single handedly won the SB for the Cowboys.... think the pad thing is forgiven then? Saying "no" doesnt mean hes going to be some bad apple. Is Tom Brady being a bad apple now because he wants to discuss his contract? You have to give Dez the benefit of the doubt for now. He said no.. get over it... until he gets in trouble or catches less than 38 balls (*cough* Roy) you really cant say anything negative about him. This bad apple because he said no is speculation at best at this point.

I bet all those guys were also firmly behind JJ's decision to throw the farm at the Lions to get Roy Williams. Truthfully, Roy's done MUCH more in the league than Bryant has at this point. What will all your boys say if Bryant ends up being a huge bust and it looks like the reason is bc he won't listen to anyone trying to teach him the small details of playing in the league... or maybe nobody even wants to help him since he's making a stand on his own. Hell TO caught A LOT more than 38 balls and plenty of people said negative things about him specifically bc it seemed like he had a me first attitude and it eventually got him shipped out of town while still producing at a high level.

If you can't see what the REAL red flag is here then you just don't want to.

[muggins]

Quote: Originally Posted by blackceasar

You put those words in his mouth because doing so makes your argument for having issue with him saying no easier. We dont even know HOW Roy approached him with it. There is a level of mutual respect even between vets and rookies. Again, I could see Romo hazing him and maybe (i dont know cuz im not Dez) his response might be different. Roy wont even be on the field half the season anyways.

Dez Bryant has never even played with Roy Williams. As far as his relationship goes right now he should respect him just like anyone else. Dallas fans are projecting their own prejudices on this - "WELL YOU GET YOURS, ROY! YOU SUCK BRO!"

He is a rookie, so he really doesn't know what he is doing yet, but when you're a rookie you definitely don't want to bring heat like this on yourself. You're a rookie, you're not alpha dog. Step down and do what you're told.

[TheWatcher]

Quote: Originally Posted by MassNole

Lets be honest, Williams knows, or should reasonably know, Bryant is taking his job as a starting WR

Yep, Bryant is aware too and I think that may be a big part of it.

Quote: Originally Posted by elgreazy1

This would have been more of an issue if say Dez refused to carry Michael Irvin's pads instead of just another ho hum, run of the mill player like Williams.

Exactly. Plus the dynamic of competing for the same job makes things different. And, if he wins the job (and I believe he will) and plays well, this whole story will be spun to where he's looked at as having a tough attitude rather than a disruptive one... it's happened before with other players who refused and wound up playing well.

Don't get me wrong, I respect the ritual, but the player who wants to put it on combined with the circumstance makes me view this one situation a bit differently than I normally would.

[ProfessaPackMan]

I gotta side with Caesar on this one and that I'll give Dez the benefit of the doubt...for now as well until he proves me wrong. He hasn't shown any signs of being a Diva since he came into the league, unless saying you're not going to carry someone else's pads is some selfish act now. This is probably something we really can't judge him on until he starts playing some games or not until we see what he's done this season but the thought that he's all of a sudden some sort of diva or an alpha dog because he said No? Come on now ya'll...

[HotGarbage]

Why is this even a story? If he didn't want to carry the mans pads,he just didn't want to carry them. Just let it go at that.

[ZB9]

Quote: Originally Posted by TheWatcher

Roy, you caught 38 balls last year and 36 the year prior. Carry your own pads.

Dez has caught zero

smh at Bryant making a big deal about this. Much better players than Dez Bryant have carried vets' pads their rookie seasons over the years in the NFL. It's a tradition as old as the league itself

He certainly did learn a lesson right off the bat though about how the media can blow even little stuff up into headlines

[LingeringRegime]

Quote: Originally Posted by ZB9

Dez has caught zero smh at Dez making a big deal about this. Much better players than Dez have carried vets' pads over years in the NFL He certainly did learn a lesson right off the bat though about how the media can blow even little stuff up into headlines

Yeah, it's funny that he said, "No disrespect." Because that is exactly what it is. It doesn't matter who the player is, it could be a punter. It is show of respect to the veteran guys on the team. I really don't think he understands the big picture.

[bcruise]

Not a fan of Dez going to reporters to leak this into the public eye - kinda comes across as bragging. Stuff like this should be kept inside the locker room, IMO.

Nothing I'm not familiar with being a Cowboy fan, though...