12/21/24
July 26, 2010
Cowboys WR Dez Bryant defies rookie tradition, refuses to carry Roy Williams' shoulder pads: Dallas Cowboys rookie WR Dez Bryant wants no part of the rookie tradition that calls for him to carry veteran players' pads during training camp.
And that isn't sitting well with veteran Cowboys WR Roy Williams.
Yep, no character issues here. Sounds like the second coming of TO.
This can go two ways: the veterans support Williams and Bryant is pissed. Or the veterans let Bryant get away with it, a prima donna is born, and Williams is pissed. And when the Cowboys trade or cut Williams due to lack of production, Bryant's ego becomes almost as big as Jerry Jones'.
posted by graymatters at 11:15 AM on July 26, 2010
Good for him. Hazing is stupid. And, if Bryant thinks he is too mature for such foolishness, I hope he behaves that way in every other aspect of his life and career.
posted by bperk at 11:16 AM on July 26, 2010
For all that Roy Williams has done he sould carry Dez's pads. I read great things already about Dez, first in last out. The future, who knows? But who is Roy Williams to say anything to someone, he's already been a bust.
posted by gfinsf at 11:22 AM on July 26, 2010
Hazing is stupid, but in the NFL it is part of its (stupid) culture. Dez has just shown that everything that was said about him pre-draft is closer to true than not.
posted by scully at 11:37 AM on July 26, 2010
I thought TO left Dallas?
posted by dbt302 at 12:14 PM on July 26, 2010
It sounds like someone is gonna get a dose of IcyHot in their jockstrap in the near future...
posted by grum@work at 12:25 PM on July 26, 2010
Yep, no character issues here. Sounds like the second coming of TO.
Bryant was the first player to show up for training camp Saturday. Don't be so quick to write him off as a head case.
posted by rcade at 12:54 PM on July 26, 2010
Dez has just shown that everything that was said about him pre-draft is closer to true than not.
His mother was a prostitute?
posted by tron7 at 01:23 PM on July 26, 2010
I say good on 'em. Hazing is stupid. Players should earn respect by how hard they prepare and their performance on the field.
posted by apoch at 01:26 PM on July 26, 2010
The hazing that takes place in NFL locker rooms is pretty mild and it builds team camaraderie. Bryant is being dumb to resist it, and I figure he'll realize this soon.
posted by rcade at 01:38 PM on July 26, 2010
Oh, come on...hazing? Hardly the type of hazing that organizations are trying to get rid of. No one gets hurt, no one is singled out, and it costs everyone involved exactly nothing
Yeah, I suppose it's a very mild form of hazing, but every team has various rookie initiation activities/traditions.
Dez has to carry a veteran's pads for a couple of days as a sign of respect...oh my. I think in the end he'll wish he had just carried the pads, retribution is always worse than the original activity.
As to Dez being a head case, we'll see. He certainly was trying to get camp off to a good start by signing and then showing up first. We'll see how this plays out in the Cowboy's locker room.
posted by dviking at 01:43 PM on July 26, 2010
For all that Roy Williams has done he sould carry Dez's pads.
That's a big part of it for me. I realize this is a NFL camp tradition, but it would probably go over better with these high-profile rookies if the player requesting him (Bryant, in this case) to carry his pads doesn't suck. Williams hasn't even done anything to really prove he belongs on the team, and Bryant is, in his own way, sending Williams the message his plan is to be starting ahead of him by the time the season opener roles around.
posted by dyams at 01:43 PM on July 26, 2010
That's a big part of it for me. I realize this is a NFL camp tradition, but it would probably go over better with these high-profile rookies if the player requesting him (Bryant, in this case) to carry his pads doesn't suck.
Right, because it wouldn't require him to act in the least bit humble. Do you really think he's doing himself any favors by excusing himself from this ritual?
posted by lil_brown_bat at 02:30 PM on July 26, 2010
Bryant may be putting a target on his back, but Williams is the one "acting like TO." Not that I think the comparison applies to either one of them, but if "acting like TO" means "saying stupid things about your teammates to the media" and "being a cancer in the locker room" then Williams takes the cake in my book.
Now, if Bryant was smart he should offer to carry Miles Austin's pads tomorrow. That would send a message loud and clear.
posted by MW12 at 02:40 PM on July 26, 2010
Now, if Bryant was smart he should offer to carry Miles Austin's pads tomorrow. That would send a message loud and clear.
I don't think he is trying to send a message of disrespect to Williams, and why should he? Bryant has done exactly nothing in the NFL yet.
posted by bperk at 03:22 PM on July 26, 2010
I like what Herm Edwards said what Bryant should've done. Herm said that Bryant should've told Roy Williams that he would carry his bags but when he beats out Williams for the starting WR job, that Williams should carry Bryant's bags.
posted by BornIcon at 03:37 PM on July 26, 2010
There's a difference between asking a rookie to carry your pads and making his life miserable, which I think is stupid. (Read here for examples)
Maybe Dez Bryant is all business and it seems like nonsense to him. Maybe, as Skip Bayless said on ESPN today, he just doesn't want to carry Williams' pads in particular. But doing a little dirty work shows vets you're a team guy. If he did it without making a stink, he could probably avoid step 2. Which Williams should have nothing to do with if he's smart.
posted by bluesdog at 03:51 PM on July 26, 2010
This whole thing is having a powerful effect on Mike Brown. At this moment, he's trying to get T.O. signed to the Bengals. I guess once you have experienced the true thrills of wide receiver roulette, life just isn't the same without it.
Maybe Roy Williams could go join T.O. and Ochocinco. They could pretend they were in the NBA.
posted by beaverboard at 03:51 PM on July 26, 2010
**Derail Alert**Your segue into the Bengal joke was a bit rocky. If Brown can get T.O. signed at a discount rate as a third receiver, is it a huge mistake? If T.O knows that he is a third option, and not "the man" going in, do you think he'll throw a hissy fit when he doesn't get 200 balls thrown his way? I'm just not sure about the point of the comment**derail over**
posted by tahoemoj at 03:58 PM on July 26, 2010
There's a difference between asking a rookie to carry your pads and making his life miserable, which I think is stupid. (Read here for examples)
The Vikings don't seem to have suffered from the ban on hazing. And, this kind of incident is exactly why Childress was right.
posted by bperk at 04:04 PM on July 26, 2010
Dez shoulda just done what every other rookie since forever has done: just carry the pads and have a little fun with it. Sing your school song, whatever, it's nothing personal and isn't that demeaning. Check your ego at the door, son.
posted by mjkredliner at 04:41 PM on July 26, 2010
Bryant has done exactly nothing in the NFL yet.
Change "in the NFL" in the above statement with "with the Cowboys" and Bryant and Williams are on the exact same level.
Right, because it wouldn't require him to act in the least bit humble.
Humble? In the NFL? In the year 2010? Please. There's a concept that went out with that league years ago.
The veterans should be telling fellow "vet" Roy Williams that he'd better start playing like a actual NFL player since he'll be sent packing long before Dez Bryant.
posted by dyams at 05:07 PM on July 26, 2010
Carrying pads is "hazing"?
Then, I guess anytime that a rookie is asked to do anything, he can play the "hazing" card. Don't be asking him to run sprints during training camp. He might not want to do it, and you are picking on him. (Not necessarily Bryant, but any rookie.)
posted by graymatters at 07:55 PM on July 26, 2010
Jerry Jones has pretty much already baptized Bryant as the 2nd coming of Christ ... why should he have to do anything he doesn't feel like?
Poor Wade Phillips, doesn't have a chance with that mess.
posted by cixelsyd at 08:52 PM on July 26, 2010
Dez shoulda just done what every other rookie since forever has done: just carry the pads and have a little fun with it
This. Argue the values of hazing vs. non-hazing all you want, I don't know where I'd come down on it, but in this specific case where the tradition has not been banned, I have two problems with Bryant's actions. The first is the fact someone who should be trying to mesh with his new team is actively standing apart. The second is in a competitive male environment, refusing to participate in the hazing is the surest way to make it horrible.
posted by yerfatma at 08:49 AM on July 27, 2010
Well, that's getting camp off to a good start, and Wade Phillips is just the guy you want laying down the law in your locker room in a situation like that.